Waste of time

I would like to say thank you to POB for taking a perfectly good discussion board and turning it into the most useless tool on the web. It is slow, hard to find information, searches are useless. In general you took something that works and created something that does not. Congratulations!!!!

I will not return or use this board again!!!!! I suppose this board  will now turn into the 4 page pamphlet the magazine has.

......he's right.


From my point of view (and I have a fast connection and more than adequate hardware) it's too slow, too disconnected, no sense of "ebb and flow" or who's posting to what. Really a step down from what was.

My visits here are down probably to 10 or 15 % of what they were.

Each time I come here, I find it more frustrating, and the sense of "connection" that the old board had no longer exists.

Angelo


EDIT: As a perfect example, after I hit "POST" it took over 20 seconds to make the connection and go back to the thread. Then another 10 or 12 seconds to get back to post this. Too slow.....waaaay too slow.

Personally I like the new format, but the post numbers have dropped dramticlly. Less posters = less prespective.

less prespective = Not as good

Harsh? Didn't mean for it to come off that way. It's just my opinion, after reading the Tom's original post, which IMHO was much more harsh than mine is. As for "complain just for the sake of complaining", don't we ALL come here to speak our minds?


I was just reporting what I have experienced....as I said, it's   v  e  r  y     s  l  o  w,    when compared to the old site or to Wendell's new site. And, as a consequence, I just don't come here that often. I'm guessing that the powers that be know that already, from all the tracking software they've dumped into this new format. And, FWIW, I am over at the alternative more than I am here. It's easier to navigate, easy to see who's around, and easy to post and keep track of your posts.



And, as I think Kristi might tell you, these are pretty much exactly the same things I mentioned to her way back in the beta period. The fact that they haven't been addressed is the most frustrating thing of all. But, as we all know, the owners/managers have their own agenda, and it ain't ours.


Sure the site is easier for them to track posters, but at what cost? Sure, they can manage threads, delete posts, etc., but who cares if there's so many fewer people here to read them.


I look at it this way......10 years or so ago, I was lucky enough to stumble accross the POB Board, in the period soon after Mark Deal passed on. After a period of lurking, I started to post and became a regular participant. The format, style and speed of the board worked for me, so I stayed. I learned a lot about surveying and surveyors in other parts of the country, and had my eyes opened to a lot of new ideas, both within and without surveying. It was simple to swivel my chair over to the computer and log in, look at the lists of posts, see who was on line, and check to see if there was anything to participate in. One could be in and out in a couple of minutes, go back to work, or to whatever you were doing if it was a weekend, and it was simple. Not so much anymore, as there's too much clicking and too much waiting for the site to respond.


Finally, it's got nothing to do with being "happy at heart"......believe me, there's lots more going on in my life than this board. People post hear so that they can communicate with others.....once it becomes harder (or less effective as the number of participants drops) it's not as much fun, not as impotrant and not as satisfying.

My thread above was I guess a way of letting the board managers/owners know how I feel about their changes. It's not "whining", it's just an opinion.

Exactly right dude! The propensity to kevetch is nothing new to this forum, old or new version. Let us all remember, the new forum was developed BASED ON USER INPUT! Did you ever hear that old axiom "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it"? Well folks , as old Art Baker used to say "You asked for it". The old forum was rife with suggestions for change. Do not ever forget we live in PCland where decisions are weighted to the lowest common denominator.

Do not fool yourselves. That is what happened here. You got what you said you wanted. Go back and look in the archives. You complained before, and you are complaining now. Then as now, it is the poor workman who blames his tools.

A few folks have legitimate issues. Those who only have dialup are screwed. At least for now, while development is actively ongoing. The rest of you are reminiscent of a Doctor Frankenstein who ends up fearing and loathing his own creation.

For better or worse, "It's alive! It's alive!"
MLB

I understand what you're saying.

My point is really this;

We now have two boards, one more social than the other and one geared more towrds the profession.  In my opinion.

I am not thrilled to be posting on two boards and find that I will be slacking off also.   I like the people on both boards, those that didn't move over and those that have moved.   There is value in both arena's.

I'm just tired of hearing the same ol' complaints for this board.  It's different, maybe not better for some, but better ofr others...

Angelo, I've also respected your posts but this one got under my skin, it really didn't sound like "you."    I've not noticed that you were one to needlessly complain.  I was invovled with the beta testing, too, and someof my suggestions were taken, others ignored.  i amnot going to complan abuiot a freebie board with the benefits of this one just becasue it's slow.   My computer is slow anyway!  I am not sure I'd notice if the board got faster...

Don't you think that POB listened well during the beta testing and  responded to each request, suggestion?

Don

Not that it matters, but:

1. I doubt you'll find a post from ME on the old board asking for changes amounting to what POB has now become. This user's input was useless once the structure of the new forum became apparent. I'm guessing that eventually there will be no paper magazine, just this site.....but that's not why I come here.


2. As a "beta user", I never liked the new site from day one (actually, I was invited on or about day 15, long after the basics had been put into place), and I expressed that. But, to paraphrase the old Yiddish proverb, "Man makes plans and POB laughs."


3. The right to kvetch notwithstanding, I think it's obvious that the new format has caused an exodus (not to get overly biblical) of users. The length of the switchover, the loss of users, all indicate that there is still much work to be done. Whether the site will rebound in usage remains to be seen. Whether they will be the same users or a different bunch also remains to be seen. I still come and check in, post occasionally, but it's not as easy and it takes a lot longer.....Am I asking too much?


4. People come here and complain about everything else....why can't we complain about the failure to successfully transfer the board with all it's posters?


5. Please...no insults. I don't come here to get insulted. (Really? Where do you usually go?)   :-)

Wow, I think you are confusing my post with the guy who started the thread....I didn't think I was needlessly complaining, nor harsh.

As a "beta poster", none of my "suggestions" were taken (there were only a few) because I had nothing constructive to offer within the framework of the new site. It's not just a chat board or bulletin board anymore, and the losses outweigh the gains, IMHO.

I am not all that interested in a magazine on line. Of course, I'll be the last guy to buy a Kindle, too..........

i don't find this site to be very slow anymore on one of my machines. Actually it is pretty fast on one.

Some of the minds that post here are a little slow though......
especially the anons.

I access the site though the 'All Activity"  view.
It facilltates not clicking around and about all the boxes. I can see "What's going on" from there.
I see Jeff Lucas joined today or is that an Anon.


oops it was kind of slow pulling up that smiley

R

Well, at least you got input. Many things change at the whims and caprices of governments and other institutions. Always to benefit them while continuing to tell you how much they are trying to "serve you better". Kind of like that old Twilight Zone episode "How to Serve Man". The price of admission hasn't gone up here, unlike your taxes. Me? I have the audacity to hope it gets better.
MLB

The only change I asked for was for a little more (user policed) civility.

Did I get my wish?

I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but outright rude  and unproffesional insults are not much to my taste.

And taste is everything.

Bob

I pulled this post of mine from 2009 out of the archives, replying to "Crime Fighter" and his incessant rants about the old board.  I don't think you could say that I got what I asked for.  I got exactly what I said I didn't want.

Posted by Steve Gardner on Apr 23, 2009 1:55 am

 

I find the site to be very slow in comparison to the old site and confusing to some extent.   I am running roadrunner cable at 256 bps, not the fastest, but ok.


So, now what do we do, kepp on plugin'... 

Have been away for awhile in the bush surveying .

I would say that the old format rattled along with the problem that the professional discourse was soon lost down the page, as  much inane banter was posted. , especially after beer 30pm .

This site has addressed this issue of preserving the professional discussions.

Obviously many are unhappy because  this new  format has  stunted that flow, consequently the back lash was for Beer Leg to take off.

Certainly the implementation has been extremely difficult. The task obviously much harder than any one imagined.

What has emerged is that  there are three categories of poster. The professional user , the social user  and a combo of both ( my category )

POB will now settle down as the board for  professional communication.

RADU

Waste of time here, I think not, not by a long way...

I am not quite sure what to think about the transition.  I was a proponent for a more moderated forum board, and in my mind I hoped all it would be would be to the now more standardized phpb format of forum board, not all of the bells and whistles that this site is.  This site to me is a cross between several things:   forum board, Facebook type social networking, and emagizne.   That said, I think it has great value, and it will thrive and grow.  To me, the challenge of finding the way of how information is shared is part of the fun of a new site.   This maybe not viewed as so by some of the pioneer members of the Mark Deal based forum board, but many of those are the ones that created my disdain of the old format of the unruly, uncouth and just mean posting.  

The real downside has been the shaky implementation.  I place no blame, I know it must be a huge undertaking.  I have found the speed quite variable, and I have excellent connections, T-1 or better.  Sometimes it just churns for minutes and the status bar goes nowhere.   For those with slower connections it must be very upsetting to have such clog-band going on.  Surveyors as a whole, IMHO are very slow to adapt to change, particularly technology.  Why that is I don't know.  When I was in the private sector, I thrived on that and made a whole lot of money.  Invest on the "bleeding edge", leverage technology, get a jump on everyone else.   That was not the norm, consequently my success.   I can remember Surveyors not wanting to accept an EDM was going to replace their tape, a total station that would replace their transit, some black box whether it was Transit Doppler or GPS that would replace T-2 or T-3 and distance meters for control, Least Squares to replace compass rule, plotters to replace leroy sets, Digital level to replace a spirit level and reading a rod, Data Collectors verses a field book, AutoCad to make drawings, LIDAR to make DTMs, Scanners to do topo, the list goes on and on.   Look at GIS, there is a HUGE number that want to stick their head in the sand and not even know on an elementary level of what it does and what role a "surveyor" may have in it.  Rather, they are quick to bad mouth it and dis-own it as being part of "surveying".  Every technology has seemed to me to not be embraced, but rather acquiesced to by a good share of our "profession".   Some of the modernness of this site, scares many of those same people, who would welcome more of the same (no thinking, exploring, learning) than something new.  So, that to me is the underlying issues with the rejection of this site by some, and the issues why there may be tough futures for some who hope to cling to being a narrowly focused land surveying only surveyor.  Wendell's new site meets the "don't change much" as it has the look and feel of the old board, and will have an astonding success of continuing what those folks want in a "watch it drop off of the page" chat-like forum.   And I will go there and participate too when I want that type of interaction.

And I am fine with that...  Surveyors always will be welcomed to participate here, and explore the new.  Or stay away if they are afraid of it.   Hopefully the server speed and bandwidth issues will get sorted out, so speed alone cannot be a complaint to stay away.   I see RADU posted in front of me, I like his anology to the status of this site.

If you want to see someting very cool and new for sharing information look to some of the emagazines.

I like "This is Fly"    THIS IS FLY

From turning the pages with your mouse like flipping a page, to a music player for each edition, to interviews with new age artists, to the "skate boarder" excitment, this has turned Fly Fishing (which is my pastime passion) from something for old White-haired, cigar smoking, Buick driving, Orvis catalog gear models with lots of money to something the next generation is embarcing.  Rock and Roll, or Rap or whatever you call todays music.......   although I fit the stereotype flyfisher more closely than a young skateboarder, college guy, I like the NEW, and the excitment of looking at the simple joy of catching fish on a fly.   Proves it is something different for those who are coming behind us, but in a way the same.

Northern Surveyor and RADU - Both of you have compared those that don't care for this format for rpls to those who resist technological advances in the surveying profession.  Not to be too dramatic about it, but I find that borderline insulting.  If someone suggested that you should use a new computer drafting software because it does a bunch of stuff you didn't want to do anyway and it made what you want to do 10 times slower and more frustrating, would you embrace it because it was new?

As far as the difficult transition, I don't blame Kristi.  She has done the best she could with what she had to work with.  It's the Small World people that I wonder about.  The severe difficulties this site has had should not have been a big surprise to somebody that has done this before.  They must have some very talented sales staff is all I've got to say.

I posted this once and then went back to edit it, now my edit's gone and I have no idea if it posted or not.  My edit was that this whole experience of logging in, reading this thread and replying to it had taken about 15 minutes.  Make that 20 now.  That's not going to work for me.

The old board was tight and efficient. In the time it takes to read this one thread on this board, I could scan a whole days worth of material on the old board. The "ebb and flow" was great as someone noted above. I could pop in, do a quick check, and pop out on the old board any time of the day. You have to work to hard to read this board. The question is...is it worth the effort? I have to wonder if I am missing something in using this board or is it really this difficult to slog through.

I appreciate the comments, and I do understand the frustration. Please know that the work on this site continues behind the scenes. New tools are being developed that will improve search functions, sort capabilities and the overall user interface. We are also continuing to push for a resolution on the speed issue.

Our goals remain unchanged. The purpose of RPLS.com is to offer a professional framework that brings together the various facets of the geospatial community to share ideas, knowledge and insights and foster business success. We remain committed to making whatever changes are necessary in this platform to reach those objectives. You will see some of those changes implemented soon.

Thanks for your continued support and understanding.

There was a statement in the first posting that I found offensive;

"I would like to say thank you to POB for taking a perfectly good discussion board and turning it into the most useless tool on the web. "

and you responded with:
 

"In All Fairness.......

Posted by Sicilian Cowboy on 2010-07-26 14:53:18

I see where you are coming from now. You're right.

I guess my post was interpreted as a "blanket" endorsement because I didn't disassociate myself from the "useless tool" clause.
I also did not disassociate from the "I'm never coming here again" part as well. The "He's right" comment was (insufficiently) referencing the middle part of his post.

I don't find the site "useless"...far from it. But I stand by MY OWN comments, which, as I said, were made well before the switchover.

I wish this site were functioning better. As you see above, Kristi has acknowledged such. I'll keep coming back, as I do believe there is valuable information here....perhaps, as in Robert Hill's suggestion, I just haven't found the best way to get to it efficiently.

We shall see.

Best,

Angelo

Gentlemen:  This debate will continue until someone in authority at POB realizes just how much they have lost and makes appropriate changes.

Several minutes ago, I clicked to switch to this site from another.  This site is always a single click away for me, along with about six others that are up continuously on this computer.  I clicked on "All Recent Forum Posts" to get to the latest happenings.  I scrolled down a bit and found a response that made me wonder what was going on in this thread.  I have absolutely no idea what other worthwhile threads there might be as I stopped on the first one that looked interesting.  So, I clicked to check it out.  I read through all of the posts and decided I would offer a comment.  But, there was no way to reply.  The "Reply" clickable wasn't to be found.  I almost went away out of frustration.  I scrolled to the top, then to the bottom again, trying to find the "Reply" option.  Then it hit me.  I had been kicked off.  Although I had never left the site, the site had left me.  So, I had to get to the "sign on" or "register" options and click, then go to that page, type in my password, then go back to "All Recent Forum Posts", then search for a reply to click, but, instead of "Waste of Time", the recent posts had titles like "Don" and "Cowboy" which didn't mean anything unless you already knew who was debating who on the desired thread, then I clicked on one of those, then I had to scroll to the bottom again, meanwhile checking to see if any new posts had been added, then finally clicked "Reply" to get to do what I'm doing now.

This is ridiculous.  This is why my posting activity is nearly non-existent compared to what it was on the old board.



I bring over 35 years of professional experience to this board, when I decide to kill 30 minutes doing 5 minutes of worthwhile learning/contributing.  Being self-employed, I do not draw a wage per hour without doing something billable in that hour.  I want to learn and I am willing to help advise others, but, I cannot give up hours to get/provide minutes of benefit.

EDIT:   ATTENTION KRISTI.  I HIT POST AND IT TOOK OVER FIVE MINUTES TO FINALIZE PROCESSING OF THE ABOVE ENTRY.  SOMEONE ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NEEDS TO FIX THESE TIME WASTERS IMMEDIATELY OR EVENTUALLY THERE WILL BE NO ONE LEFT.

EDIT TO EDIT:  AMAZINGLY, IT TOOK ONLY ABOUT 15 SECONDS FOR IT TO PROCESS THE EDIT.

I had no idea you could still post on "the old board???"... that is ridiculous, both that people are still posting there and that you are able to continue to post there.

No wonder there are like 20 posts here a day. If the other board went away this board would be hopping with activity.


BY THE WAY!!!!... If this board is still slow it is your old wore out computer. My blackberry navigates this site with ease.