jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Mon Mar 30 12:30:56 CDT 2009
Thanks Jim, for the explanations. I must say the responses were pretty heated. OTOH we all know that those with negative experiences post more than those with positive experiences. I don't know whether I was "grandfathered" or what but I do not pay and I can see the answers. I do have to stay logged in of course. And I must say I go looking for responses in EE. I have found some high quality responses, and some useless responses, but then just about every place has a mix. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com Jim Dettman wrote: > All, > > Since this is OT, rather then clog up the list with a bunch of replies, I > thought I'd just send a single reply and address some of the points you > raised. I think if you'd gave the site a try for a while you perceptions > might change, especially depending on what point it was that you tried the > site, as it has changed considerably over the years. > > In fact it underwent a major change in management back in 2001 and there > is now a dedicated group of people trying to improve it with a major focus > on customer service. That's why the articles and a bunch of other stuff is > coming. Since then, they've been working building the site by refining the > question/answer format to make it easier, and making fundamental > improvements in things such as the search engine, site stability, etc. Now > they are ready to start moving forward in some new directions. > > Anyway, here's some comments on your replies: > > 1. Cost - Yes it is $12.95 a month, however I would kick in that since being > on the site since 1999, I haven't paid a dime and for the past 3 or 4 years, > I haven't been working all that hard at answering questions. It is > ridiculously easy to earn 3000 points a month and qualify for free > membership. > > As to why they charge, well you don't run a site that size for nothing. > Bandwidth, servers, staff, etc all cost. The model that was used in the > past of plastering ads all over just doesn't work. That's why in 2001 EE > nearly went bankrupt. It will be interesting to see what happens with other > sites such as Utter Access and how long they will be around or if they will > change their business model. Even Face Book is considering a subscription > service at this point. > > 2. Ads - While there are still ads, they are no longer the driving revenue > like they were in the early days. You can switch to the "Expert Skin", > which is a cleaner interface and is ad free. > > 3. "Experts" - Yes, the level of experts varies greatly and you may find > certain areas having nothing but Google Monkeys. There are (and always have > been) various efforts underway to minimize that, but this is something > you'll find just about anywhere you go (I've found that the Access-D list is > the exception rather then the rule). However as I said, many MVP's do call > it home and you can find some really good people there. > > 4. Search engine - They know it sucked and have been making continual > improvements to it for the past couple of years. In fact it's just about > due for another adjustment. In the past two years there has been a big jump > in performance to the point where it really is useable, but even so, right > on the page, EE still gives you the choice of selecting Google for a search > or the EE Search Engine to search EE. > > 5. The PAQ database (Previously Asked Question) - I'd be the first to admit > that the quality of the PAQ database has gone down. The main reason for > this is that a while back, premium members were given unlimited points for > asking questions. Prior to that, you were limited in how many questions you > could ask. As a result, you asked good questions and didn't give up on > them. Experts worked at providing good answers because there were fewer > questions to answer. Now, people just ask as many questions as they want. > Many times they just accept an answer in order to move on even though it may > not be the right one or complete. So the focus on the site has started > shifting from searching for answers to simply asking and getting a response. > In fact there is now a "related question" feature so you can link back to an > earlier question and maintain a thread of questions on a given topic. > > > As for my involvement EE I joined it after leaving CompuServe, where I > answered questions in the Access forum for 8 years. At that point, > Microsoft had moved its product support off CompuServe and WUGNET had taken > over the Access forum. Things really went down hill after that, so I > started looking for something like CompuServe. > > At the time, there wasn't much out there. I tried the Microsoft newsgroups > for a while, but they were un-moderated at the time and just not fun to be > around. I also tried Woody's Access Lounge and it just didn't seem like the > right fit. EE at that time was pretty unique in what it did, so I joined. > I've been with them ever since. > > In closing, let me just say that this will be the last post on this. As I > said, I didn't want to take anything away from Access-D, but did want to > make everyone aware of an opportunity. > > Jim. >