Where would our hobby be without the internet?

[Minimoog]

In the UK we did not have the luxury of SureFire - or anything like that. Even now, what is available in the specialist shops is overpriced and not a good selection. Its strange but there is no real scene here at all, not like all the custom builders in the US. Kind of sad really.

So here the most aspired to light would be the LED Maglite. I see people out in pitch black with lights and they are pitiful to say the least - weak and blue. I think without the internet I would still be doing as I used to - getting halogen and krypton bulbs and upgrading better lights as best possible.

 

[magellan]

In the UK we did not have the luxury of SureFire - or anything like that. Even now, what is available in the specialist shops is overpriced and not a good selection. Its strange but there is no real scene here at all, not like all the custom builders in the US. Kind of sad really.

So here the most aspired to light would be the LED Maglite. I see people out in pitch black with lights and they are pitiful to say the least - weak and blue. I think without the internet I would still be doing as I used to - getting halogen and krypton bulbs and upgrading better lights as best possible.

Nice to know there's something good to say about the situation here compared to other places.

 

[magellan]

You've probably seen this, seemed appropriate for this conversation

​

My coworkers enjoyed it...

Good one.

 

[ven]

I would be driving a 911, be a lot better off.....but would not be able to find my car in the dark :laughing:

 

[Timothybil]

<soapbox> Positions soapbox, clears throat

I suppose most of you youngsters are too young to know about IRC and Usenet. This forum software we use was modeled after how Usenet worked, it was basically all forums. A lot of the same type of info was shared there as is shared here now. And before that were the BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) days that started about the time modems faster than 300 baud became available. And don't forget Gopher. Information has always wanted to be free and widely available. What you are calling 'the Internet' has been there for a long time. What you are really referring to is the advent of HTML. Manufacturers and dealers were already starting to have a presence in Usenet before HTML, but the appearance of 'the World Wide Web' greatly sped up the process. They started treating the Web the same way they treated the print media as far as advertising and selling, and that was a big step.

Where the Internet has had the most impact on us is not in the information sharing area directly, but in the enabling of global markets, better design environment, and the productivity increases that enabled a better living for a lot of people. I know that has leveled off and even slipped a little in the current environment, but it did have an impact. The ability of the common folk like us to access foreign manufacturers, especially in the Far East, provided a lot of impetus to our hobby.

"Class is now open for discussion." </soapbox>

 

[seery]

I suppose most of you youngsters are too young to know about IRC and Usenet.

Oh how the BBS's bring back memories of the old days. Here's a fun fact...

Phillip Greenspan has had the same email address at MIT since 1976.

 

[Timothybil]

I forgot to add this: Can anyone tell me how long Shot Show has been going on?

 

[seery]

I forgot to add this: Can anyone tell me how long Shot Show has been going on?

1979

 

[Timothybil]

Oh how the BBS's bring back memories of the old days. Here's a fun fact...

Phillip Greenspan has had the same email address at MIT since 1976.

I have had the same username since the AOL days in the early 90s. My middle name is William and an aunt used to call me 'Timothy Bill' to tick off my mom. I tried to use it as my user name, but AOL only allowed ten characters for the username, hence Timothybil.

 

[Archangel72]

You've probably seen this, seemed appropriate for this conversation

​

My coworkers enjoyed it...

To add

Im sitting eating my lunch scrolling thru the post playing (recently bought playlist) on my ipad and I am about a minute(edit it was 1:40) into this song just as I see this post... Lets just say I grinned like a Cheshire cat...