Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!rex!mandel@vax.anes.tulane.edu
From: mandel@vax.anes.tulane.edu (Jeff E Mandel MD MS)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: CFD Stuff
Message-ID: <6478@rex.cs.tulane.edu>
Date: 5 Mar 91 20:37:02 GMT
Sender: news@rex.cs.tulane.edu
Organization: Tulane University School of Medicine
Lines: 67

OK, I was upset this morning, and if I flamed too much, I'm sorry. Reading the
group, you have no idea the amount of private mail I am getting on this, and
the number of people who seem to think I am doing this because I have nothing
better to do.

To summarize the main issues:

1) There is a significant body of opinion that the current single group is not
serving the community well. This comes largely from the non-HP community, i.e.,
Sharp/Casio/Psion/etc. Basically, these people are tired of having to read 50
postings a day about issues relating to the HP48.
2) The HP28 users who bother to mail to me state that they are not all that
interested in the main volume of HP48 stuff either.
3) HP is poised to release a handheld that does not share the architecture of
the 48, and most likely will be a completely different animal from all the
other handhelds as well.

Basically, it seems to me that while it is unlikely that a group named .hp48sx
will be the longterm solution, if HP releases another machine in that line, and
the members of the .hp48sx group feel the need to go through the process of
renaming the group, that is a decision that the HP48 community can make without
fear of offending anyone with any other machine.

I do not feel, however, that it is wise for the HP48 community to say to the
community of handheld users, "You have no choice but to read our postings if
you want to read about handhelds". Since the name handhelds seems to best
describe both the HP48sx and Sharp/Casio/Psion/etc., I am not sure what name
could be picked to allow the non-HP48 (and 48 followon) group to be
distinguished from c.s.h. If anyone has a proposal, make it, but I believe (and
am supported in this belief by a fair number of mail messages) that the logical
approach is to create new groups that are inclusive, rather than exclusive.

As to the notion that the HP48 community benefits from the postings of the
Sharp/Casio/Psion/etc., and thus everyone will have to subscribe to both, I
have received several messages which indicate that non-HP48 users feel
intimidated by the volume of HP48 postings, and feel that no one is interested.
Indeed, I have heard reports of HP48 users harrassing those who post non-HP
questions. Thus, if the split causes non-HP48 users to have more productive
interchanges, then it seems that anyone from the HP48 community who cared to
read c.s.h would be pleased with the results.

Folks, I hope you all appreciate that my motivation for doing this is merely to
be a good net citizen. It would be far easier to just sign off the newsgroup,
but that would leave the problem for someone else to solve. I know a lot of you
will say "What problem?", but it should be sufficient to recognize that others
see it as a problem and realize it doesn't create any lasting hardship for you
to participate in solving their problems.

I hope I have not taken up too much bandwidth with my postings, but I keep
getting mail from people who feel I am hoarding information. Thus, I ask the
following questions:
1) Does anyone from the HP48 community feel they will be MATERIALLY
INCONVEIENCED by the creation of comp.sys.handhelds.hp48sx?
2) Does anyone from the HP28, etc. community feel they should beincluded with
the HP48 community in the proposed group?
3) Does anyone from the non-HP community feel they will be adversely affected
by splitting off some or all of the HP community?

I know everyone has an opinion, but these are the opinions that seem most
valuable at this time. Please, post to the group, as everyone seems to have an
interest in this. While I don't mind the mail, it leaves many people with an
incomplete impression of the range of sentiment.

Jeff E Mandel MD MS
Asst Professor of Anesthesiology
Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, LA