My ISP is a HUGE local ISP and oddly they say that I'm almost the only
user of their newsreader service (which they buy from Slurp.net).
I find it very odd that Usenet is used so little by the public.
Offhand it seems like one of the best info resources of the modern era.
Are people really THAT community-phobic or something?

I mean, out of the thousands of Englishspeaking XC buffs we get, what,
a couple dozen crazy regulars who post to RSN. And here we get such
great
answers to questions, good coaching tips, timely race info,
GREAT mpegs of races that no one else in the US will get to see.

So why is RSN used so little?

I remember how excited I got in about, what, 1993 when Usenet took off.
I thought it would be a worldchanging info resource. No more could the
big
stupid media keep out the smart little guy, I thought. Instead, it's
been only
us few weirdos who use this simple, very powerful tool.

And in terms of the Web in general, I've heard that the best place to
hide
a good project is on the Net.

Yet...yet...I saw a newstory yesterday that says 30% of Americans are
daily
users of the Net and part of the "computer elite" or some such term.

--

Jeff Potter
****
*Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
publisher of outdoor/indoor do-it-yourself culture...
...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies...
...rare books on ski, bike, boat culture, plus a Gulf Coast thriller
about smalltown smuggling ... more radical novels coming up!
...original downloadable music ... and articles galore!
plus national "Off the Beaten Path" travel forums! HOLY SMOKES!