The Wild Wild Internet

[FirTree@aol.com]

After reading a bunch of messages about advertising on pianotech,
I feel the need to share some thoughts.

1) It is evident this list started with university and college technicians,
    just as most everything on the internet has started.
2) The floodgates have opened, and the rest of the world is sneaking
    in, by leaps and bounds.
3) The culture of the internet, and this list, _will_ change. Like all
    things in life, change means good things and bad things.

I subscribed to pianotech and expected to find pretty much the same
atmosphere I find at PTG chapter meetings. In our case we cover a
lot of territory and range far from the agenda when it suits us. Time
constrains us to get to business at hand, though.

The list gives us a chance to chat without concern over keeping
someone around late to answer a simple or a complicated question.
It is a new and different medium, and lots of old rules don't apply the
way we might like.

I was brought up short when I read a flurry of messages on how
happy people were that school was out. Immediate reaction - Huh?
For me, the day after school lets out is just like the day before. I don't
begrudge anyone the elation of the moment, nor its expression. But
as this list, and others like it, grow and mature the culture will
change.

To me, a whole lot of my life involves taking advantage of every
possibility to make or recoup a buck. I don't have a large salary from
a large institution. I have a bunch of little salaries from a bunch of
small institutions - customers. Mentioning in a polite, appropriate
way that I have a couple of pianos for sale is something I might do
any time I think someone could be interested.

(Side point: I don't think I will be buying a square from Seskatchewan
 anytime soon. Shipping, customs and my non-penchant for personal
 punishment preclude it. Therefore, advertising on a list like this one
 should at least be appropriate for the venue.)

I guess the bottom line is, we are in the process of mixing several
cultural components at the same time, with no guidelines on how to
do it. I need this list, and our industry needs this list, because of the
speed of response, the foreshortening of long distance to the
nearness of a computer monitor, the fact that everybody gets a turn
to talk all at the same time and will still be heard, and a hundred
more good reasons.

So lighten up, take a deep breath, and expect to see some things
you won't like, and some good things you never even thought of.

And it is going to be a bumpy road bringing the rest of civilization
to the wild, wild, internet.

Dave Stocker
firtree@aol.com
Tumwater, WA