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David Tannenbaum on the Soapbox
Dear LEU Soapbox,
I had always thought that America Online staff were helpful folks, with a strong desire to help knowledgeable and "computer illiterate" users alike. Unfortunately, this belief was proven to be a fallacy when, in a quest to distribute an electronic 'zine (The Looking Glass), similar to LEU, I searched America Online high and low to find an appropriate file base to which I could u/l my file and watch it be devoured.
Finally after a time and money consuming search, I came upon "The Writer's Forum" buried within the "Lifestyles and Interests" conference. I gleefully uploaded my two files - one compressed with Stuffit (a DocMaker version of the mag for the Mac), and one Zipped (an ASCII file for IBM compats.)
For two days I signed onto AOL at my regular time, keywording immediately to the Non-Fiction section of "The Writer's Forum" hoping to rejoice at the download count of my upload. Unfortunately, it never appeared. The file which I had so carefully worked on had not been approved.
A bit bemused, I decided to write to the forum's manager, "THopeB." Luckily, she had been online when I sent the letter and drew me into an instant message conversation, only to explain that she had not been able to open the compressed file, for she didn't have "Stuffit Expander," nor did she have any clue what "Zip" was. For these reasons, the file had not been approved. My anxiousness growing, I explained to her that the America Online software AUTOMATICALLY expanded Stuffit files and that Stuffit Expander was not necessary, for her or anyone else who might download the file. Trying, and failing because she was running an extremely old version of the America Online software on a Mac Plus my anxiousness turned to anger.
Now, I realize that LEU is dedicated to users of "low-end" Macs, of which the Mac Plus definitely is. But it seems anarchical for the Forum MANAGER not to be able to decompress and approve files because she refuses to upgrade her software (which of course would cost absolutely nothing.)
We have to ask ourselves in times such as this, when there are many other services out there, "Am I really getting my $120 per year's worth when forum managers don't approve their customers stuffed files for the simple reason that they refuse to take a completely free upgrade?" Because of this incident I'm seriously considering cancelling my subscription to AOL and putting my money elsewhere. I would advise others to do the same.
Sincerely,
David Tannenbaum
david_tannenbaum@sensenet.com
DTC's Reply
Although you have the right to be mad at THopeB's management of _The Writer's Forum_ it isn't fair to catagorize the rest of America Online with it. Just because one forum manager is incompetent doesn't mean that all of them are. It would be a rash decision to cancel one's subscription immediately because of this minor example of incompetency. And furthermore, you are correct in saying that LEU is, in fact, dedicated to low-end users (as the name suggests), it doesn't mean that we sanction actions (or inactions) of all Mac Plus users automatically, as you have implied. Perhaps THopeB should get a subscription to LEU so that he/she can learn about cheap upgrades that can allow her to run America Online 2.0.1. -DTC
