<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
So, Craig, tell us all – what was it really like in the early days ?
How have things changed ?
Share your wisdom and experience with us, and make an "official 1,000th" post – I respectfully request it.
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Hmmm... trying to remember exactly what it was like that far back is like trying to remember what kind of innertube I bought when I popped a wheelchair tire a year ago.
For starters, there were only ten other members of CPF, and most of the message bases were still relatively empty.
Brock had turned me on to the link a few weeks earlier, but I hadn't had time to check into it because I was doing some kind of work on the website. But one night in mid-August 2000 I checked it out and registered.
Flashlights like the Infinity, the PAL Gold, the 7-LED offering from C. Crane, and the then-new 10-LED Turbospyder were all the rage those days.
Half of the messages seemed to be people pissing and moaning about some deficiency with one of those lights, many of the others were questions about them. And the remainder of the topics were questions about LEDs and LED replacement bulbs, notably those with screw bases that would fit Petzl lanterns.
Back then, I rarely if ever ventured out of the LED, Electroluminescent and Lasers forum; as I really didn't have any incandescent lights that were mentioned on the other forums.
It was also in this time frame that the message count in the newer LED forum exceeded the number of messages in the incandescent section - kind of a minor milestone I remember somebody mentioning.
The Arc AAA wasn't even a dream yet - at least not one any of us knew about.
Sometime around the 1st of the year, the number of memberships to CPF began to really take off, and the number of postings increased commensurate with that.
New LED flashlights seemed to be coming out almost weekly, and a lot of the questions I saw were "where can I buy such and such".
Then as February ended that nasty old S.O.B. "Seismic Sam" paid Seattle a visit, and boy was his pissed.
This is when I found what it truly meant to "BELONG" somewhere, as nearly a dozen Candlepower Forums members stepped up to the plate and helped me get my computer and test lab back in order so I could continue with my flashlight testing and continue answering questions & otherwise providing my own brand of info for the group.
By this time, Peter Gransee was working on an amazing small light to be called the Arc Flashlight that featured a bright white LED and a single AAA battery. In large part, this light was "born" out of Candlepower Forums, as Peter took suggestions from everybody here while building this light.
With each round of testing, more improvements were incorporated, until the Arc AAA (as it is now known) has become the epitome of keychain type flashlights.
All the while, membership in CPF continued to balloon, as did the number of new LED flashlights on the market.
Today, Candlepower Forums has become a fixture on the internet, much like a sink or tub in your home that you wouldn't dream of removing or living without; and it has become home to anyone who likes things that glow and run on batteries.
For the record, this is my 1043rd post.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
All your base are belong to us.
