I find this a somewhat problematic forum principle, because you might end up getting referred to very old very long threads all the time; threads that take a long time to read and where most is irrelevant to you. I prefer forums myself where asking questions is encouraged, rather than getting the tired old “use the search button before you post” by the tired old veterans. (Of course it doesn’t have to be either-or.)
Please remember that the overwhelming majority of people who come to this site are first timers here and they’ve found us through Google or some other search engine. So they don’t know what you know, they see what they perceive as a great thread, they want to participate.
We shouldn’t be rude to people because they haven’t had the benefit of our experience. 
I thought what pissed you off the most was responding to a 5 year old post and thinking everyone’s pointing and laughing at you for not being able to read the date stamp, when in actuality they’re just pointing and laughing at you for getting your panties all up in a bunch about zombie threads.
Do not throw personal insults in About This Message Board.
If you have a personal issue with another poster, take it to the Pit, do not exhibit it here. We’re really serious about this.
[edited to clarify that splatterpunk received a warning, not just a mod note, for personal insults for the above post. – twickster]
What do you expect from a newb?
Emphasis added. I see what you did there!
This. What I find frustrating is a post that gets resurrected for someone to say “me too,” or to add their 2 cents to a topic without reading the 40 posts before that have already hashed something to death, or to complain that a link from a 2003 post is dead.
Personally, I’ve got no problem if someone posts something to an old thread and has something substantive to add. But that’s rare.
But is it more rare for old threads than new ones? I mean, look, you just posted “this.” Was there anything really weighty in your post that wasn’t more or less said somewhere above? Most posts in most threads have little substance, regardless of thread date.
One difference for resurrections of very old threads, though: they bring the topic itself to light. Even if the latest “me too” addition is useless in itself, the act of revival may give people something worth reading that otherwise wouldn’t have been seen on the top several pages.
TY Tuba for fighting arrogance…
How difficult would it be to program the forum software to automatically add a footnote …in large capitals …and maybe even in red text… to any thread which had gone three months without any fresh input …saying
THIS IS NOW A ZOMBIE THREAD…PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANY FURTHER POSTS UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE TO CONTRIBUTE.
There, that should do it …now I can go and lie down …
Technically, it’s not ‘zombified’ til resurrected. Perhaps, “This is now a dated thread in which the last reply is over 3 months old…”
But you know what would be hilarious? If they did run that script and it inadvertently ‘raised’ every thread.
Moderator Warning
Munch, personal attacks are not permitted in ATMB, something you’ve been around long enough to know. This is an official warning. Do not do this again.
Colibri
Why is it irritating? To paraphrase C K Dexter Haven:
Imagine I read a 3-page thread about X. My mind is arguing with people, agreeing with people, thinking of my response with wonderful insights trying to remember what I’m planning to say. And then, I see my own name, posting exactly what I was planning to post and I check the date. :smack:
I think Colibri’s take is a valid one, leaving the thread open in case someone might usefully contribute. Ideally no one would necropost shlock or such shlock would get removed, but whether a zombie adds usefulness is sometimes subjective and can often result in an irritating barrage of comments coming after it that only point OUT the age of the thread. Perhaps a good set of rules to follow for all forums should be:
1.) Don’t post on old threads unless you really have something useful to contribute, and a mod deletes those comments that aren’t useful
2.) Don’t comment on how old a thread is that was resurrected, because it accomplishes nothing, and a mod deletes those comments, because they aren’t useful
3.) Never lock a thread.
Just my take on it. While I’m dreaming, I’d also like a trip to Bermuda.
With respect to your points 1 and 2, as a matter of policy, we rarely delete posts that aren’t spam, spam reports, or trolling (or sometimes duplicates).
I have no objection to posts that point out that a thread is old, since this can be helpful to other posters in evaluating if they want to respond or not. However, zombie jokes by themselves are not helpful (not to mention often being tiresome), since they may only serve to mystify the newbie who resurrected the thread. If you simply can’t restrain yourself from making a zombie joke, at least mention to the re-animator the reason for it.
I’m against them because I don’t find the same tired old jokes as amusing as many people seem to. It’s like people who repeat sitcom jokes as if they will somehow gain originality or a reputation for a sense of humor by rote regurgitation. My .02.
Did I do that?
This got a chuckle out of my stone cold heart. 
Some boards have a waiting period between registration and when users can start posting. It prevents hotheaded and moronic drive-by posts and encourages people to lurk before posting.
But the “me too” posts happen with NEW threads just as much, and that’s just as pointless. And think about all the polls where someone posts for no other reason than to tell us how they voted in the poll.
I agree that the resurrection of zombies usually doesn’t lead to much of interest. But that’s no big deal. It’s a small price for the occasional helpful update which is better placed in the same thread.
As noted above by rogerbox…what’s really pathetic are the people who–upon identifying a zombie thread–can’t restrain themselves from using it to extract some sad sense of self-satisfaction by contriving some lame zombie joke, believing that they are demonstrating their sharp wit at the expense of the newbie.
No, sorry, you aren’t clever just because you are first to identify a zombie thread and no, your labored little joke isn’t enough to make you a cool insider.
But that’s not the fault of the zombie thread itself. That has more to do with the mentality of this board.