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From: laird@think.com (Laird Popkin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: RFD: Alternate proposal
Message-ID: <1991May14.221202.12894@Think.COM>
Date: 14 May 91 22:12:02 GMT
References: <1991May13.160635.5534@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Sender: news@Think.COM
Reply-To: laird@think.com
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
Lines: 40

In article <1991May13.160635.5534@rodan.acs.syr.edu> rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Rich Holmes) writes:
[regret deleted]
>If so, then I would like to urge the consideration of a second possibility.
>The present proposal is too narrow (in that it splits HP48 issues from HP28
>issues, when in fact these are closely related) and too limiting (in that
>it fails to provide for future machines which may be successors to or other-
>wise related to the HP48.  (And as someone pointed out, where do you discuss
>the HP infrared printer?)
>
>As a minimally disruptive reorganization that does not suffer from this kind
>of narrowness and limitation of scope, I would like to voice qualified 
>support for
>
>     comp.sys.handhelds.hp       -- discussion of all HP handhelds
>     comp.sys.handhelds.misc     -- discussion of non-HP handhelds

This was discussed and rejected before, both by hp48 owhers and others.  HP
simply makes too many different sorts of machines to make an "HP-only"
group to be meaningful.  A better suggestion was:

     com.sys.handhelds            -- discussion of handhelds in general
     comp.sys.handhelds.RPL       -- discussion of HP's RPL handhelds

Since that defines the group by the thing which will be common to the 48,
48sx, and future programmable calculators (aka handheld computers) of the
hp48's family.  This suggestion was made before, and didn'y "fly" though I
didn't understand why owners of other RPL machines would rather be in the
"general" discussion than the "hp48" discussion.  I guess that the term RPL
is a bit obscure, so HP48 (etc.) owners might not recognize the group's
topic from its name.

Alternatively, the "comp.sys.handhelds.hp48" group as proposed in the CFD
should be defined to include other computers of the hp48 family, with the
understanding that the groups is just called ".hp48" because of the
recognition factor.

- Laird Popkin, Thinking Machines

Connection Machine: Massively parallel supercomputer.  Also a cool black
cube with more blinking lights than you can shake a stick at.