I debated about this long and hard, yes, i’m a relative newbie on the board, and yes, there are plenty other free message boards out there, however, the Dope seems to have a quite eclectic cross section of topics and the community seems to be nice
still, i have a hard time stomaching the conversion of free apps/boards/etc… to paid, it was bad enough when Apple changed from the free iTools suite to the .Mac pay site, but i got a lot of use out of iTools, i used my .Mac address constantly, and the “freebies” more than made up for the price difference
what finally made me decide to pay was the realization that the $4.95 (why not call a spade a spade and just charge $5, does the 5¢ really make that much difference?) was far less than the movie i’m going to see tonight (the remake of Dawn of the Dead), not taking into account the time it takes to drive to the theatre, the gas i use, and the wear and tear on the car (the closest theater showing Dawn is the South Burlington Vt Cinema 9, about a half hour drive away)
so for $5, i get far more entertainment than a movie, don’t have to deal with wear and tear on the car, and the candy isn’t overpriced either…
not a bad deal, all in all, still would be better if it was still free though
Here is another solution. Go to a freind, neighbor. relative who is comfortable with using Paypal. Many are. Sit down at their computer, and log in. Then go to pay & pay with Paypal. They then log into Paypal (while you turn you back during the password phase). You hand them a fiver. And log out. Everyone is happy.
OK, now I have a question about how I’m supposed to pay. For tax purposes, I’ve put all my assets into a Swiss bank account. So would I have to convert the Swiss Francs to US dollars before sending it your way? Or would the Francs be an outdated currency and have to convert them to Euros before converting that to US dollars and then send that.
Now, assuming I don’t have actual money in the bank account but rather silver bars, should I compare the value of an ounce of silver to the current market value of the Franc, the Euro, or the Dollar? Also, valuations of these shift continuously as the global economy churns onward and so when would I want to convert? If I do so right now and silver futures soar by mid-April can I get a refund for overpaying or will that be credited towards next year’s membership fee?
I’ve got a calculator handy and I’m not afraid to use it.
Sorry, longtime poster here, reader of columns on AOL, etc., who won’t be joining.
I do not know whether or not fees are neccessary; I’m not in charge of running the thing. But I do know that fees aren’t part of the point to the thing, which really was to allow people interested in “Cecil’s” columns an opportunity to become “hooked” on them, through a sense of belonging. We see hundreds of web pages during a week of travel on this medium, and most of them end up consigned to the rubbish heap after a glance or two; a few manage to make it into a “favorites” folder, only to be purged after six months or so of disuse. But by being able to drop in anytime you want, without any more difficult initiation than the relatively easy registration, and offer your opinion on what the Smartest Man in the World has said, you came back, and back, and back.
The point to this? It acts as advertising for the Chicago Reader, and Cecil’s enterprise. If it is failing in that capacity, I am sorry. But paying a sum of money on a repeated basis, just for the “privilege” of offering commentary on various subjects, isn’t something I want to be part of, no matter how trivial the fee.
I predict the result will be a drop in membership, a lack of new blood staying around, and a stagnation of the board, causing it to go the way of Compuserve (which failed to adapt when flat-fee services ramped up), AOL chat rooms (which now have less than a tenth the usage of the late 90’s), and other web-based efforts that can’t keep up with the times, for whatever reason.
I hope I’m wrong, for the sake of those who are staying. I’ve enjoyed most of my time here; I was looking forward to another cracking fun election year. But I guess now I’ll have time to put in that backyard sprinkler line I’ve been thinking we need.
Yay! I would have gladly started paying years ago.
If nothing else, this will (eventually) cut down on the number of trolls and their ilk.
Actually, they can and will. The rules won’t change and they’re telling us up front that if you’re banned you get the privelege of forfeiting your payment. Again, it’s not overly friendly but given time it will cut down on the chaff.
Elitist and proud of it, baby. All the cooool message boards are pay-to-post nowadays. You don’t wanna be a square, do ya?
Heck, I’m in. Only one thing I want, that Ed hasn’t mentioned yet. Must be an oversight on his part.
Folks, we enjoy the hard work of the SDMB hamsters each and every day. We click, they run around their little wheels, prodded forward only by the joy of knowledge and the desire to avoid electric shocks. Ed mentioned that our subscriptions are going to some sort of multi-use hamster oil - I’m glad that our furry comrades in the war on ignorance are being looked after, though I confess to ignorance as to what all the myriad uses of that oil may be. I find this is one bit of ignorance I surrender to gladly.
That said - these noble veterans in the war on ignorance lead hard lives, and short ones. They deserve safe, happy retirements after their honorable discharge from the SDMB. I propose that Charter Members should be placed in a pool of eligable “veteran’s homes” for our comrades who have served the cause well, and are now retiring. Let’s not forget our veterans, the hamsters.
Plus, hamsters are cool. I want one!
(Maybe a little plush hamster? I’m Mr. Excellent - I’m confident enough in my awe-inspiring masculinity to admit that everyone really would like a little plush hamster.)
To all who are offering to sponsor other Dopers, let me express my appreciation. You guys are very generous.
I thought about requesting assistance myself, or possibly just resigning myself to eternal lurker mode. I’m not poor by any means, but I have to be very careful about expenses for the next few months. In the end, I decided that I have received enough value from my time here, that I would go ahead and pay it.
Even though I am not requesting help, all of these offers put a smile on my face.
I think we should sell SDMB-specific apparel to help fund the board and/or people who need help with the membership fee - something like a t-shirt with a picture of an exhausted (dying?) hamster running on a wheel with some witty caption.
We’ve got some artists here who I’m sure could come up with something good!
Whew! Took me four days of occasional reading to get to the end of this thread. I’d been sort of hoping to get here before the change, but no biggie. I paid my money before starting in on pages 10 and 11.
It seems clear that this decision will be reviewed a month or so after April 22. At that point, I hope the idea of keeping CCC, CSR, and GQ free will be given strong consideration. I think it’s a great plan for keeping the boards churning the way they should, and for luring in new paid members. Heck, it may turn out to be better than the 30-day guest accounts, leading to dropping those entirely.
That suggestion is for the future. I realize that the plan as it exists now must be stuck to for a while, so I’ll refrain from what many others have done: trying to suggest changes for immediate implementation.
For right now, though, I think the SDMB should send an e-mail out to every e-dress in its database telling everyone about this change. This would ensure that no one pops in after the deadline and has to complain that they’d have signed up, if only they’d known. It would also, I believe, greatly increase the first month’s revenues, because a lot of people will pay just to get the deal and to compensate you for the years of enjoyment even if they aren’t currently watching the boards. We might see a lot of our ‘lost sheep’ reappear, as well. At the same time, I doubt it would add to total posts per day, since there will be drop-offs in other quarters and some non-posting members will pay and still not post.
Of course, it should only be ONE e-mail. Don’t want the Dope to become a source of spam, don’cha know.
I have no problem with the price…$4.95 is cheap for a whole year but I’m afraid I’m one of those who will have to decline
I enjoy this place too but mostly I come here because of the wide variety of opinions on every possible subject and once in a while when I need info myself it’s pretty much certain someone here can help and I appreciate it greatly but I usually show my appreciation by responding to other’s requests for information on subjects I know something about…rather than monetarily
I fear that in the future I may still come here to read other’s posts but after a while I’ll start to feel like a leech not being able to contribute without subscribing and I’ll come less and less until I eventually stop altogether
Well, I guess this is goodbye for me. I honestly can’t afford an extra anything in my budget, even an extra $4.95. So, after a long and incredibly enjoyable stretch, I guess this is the end. I feel blessed to have been a part of it this long. I’m grateful to everybody I’ve had the pleasure to know over these boards. If I am to come back, it won’t be for another four years or so.
I doubt I’ll be missed or remembered, but should I return and anybody recognizes me, give me a big heads up that you’re still around.
So, if I live in Europe, don’t have a credit card, and have had only bad experiences with PayPal, is there someone over on this side of the ocean with whom I could work out some kind of deal? Sending $4.95 overseas is so ridiculously cost-unefficient it almost makes me fall down laughing. I’d really hate to say goodbye so soon.
The search function is dependent upon the index settings and one index serves all users. The only way 3-letter words will be included is if the server load is reduced or the system gets bigger and faster. So hope for more subscribers (more money to buy stuff) or fewer subscribers (less load).
