Count me in the searching-is-why-I-pay-camp. I don’t know if my posts-per-day count keeps me out of lurker status or not, but it certainly reflects a paucity of posting. I’m not saying I search the way Handy used to post, but it’s the core to my membership. For example, I don’t watch movies when they come out (unless they’re at the drive-in), so reading interpretations is unavailable now. There are few products out there that I’m tangentially interested in (e.g., GPS, Roomba) that haven’t been discussed here in multiple threads. The list goes on…
I must say I’m baffled by the “I don’t use search that much, so therefore it’s not that big of a deal” crowd. Not that I don’t understand how people can use the board differently, more that I don’t understand the dismissive attitude toward those who raise the issue. I also saw it when ads started appearing, the “it doesn’t bother me so you it shouldn’t bother you,” or “I use adblock so you should to and not object,” or “if you’ve got nothing to hide you shouldn’t object to a warrantless” or … or … well, you get the picture.
So yeah, searching is that critical to my enjoyment of the Dope, the main reason I pay to subscribe.
I actually don’t know what that means. I would look it up…
I use search at least 5 times a day. I have found myself interested by something and immediately search for it on the dope. If I heard a figure, story, anything really, I will look on the dope and see what they say. If I want to see if my father is posting anything (as rare as that is) I search. If I want to ask a question but think it’s been asked before, I search.
Without it, I am noticeably angry. I’m not trying to bitch at administrators or anything like that. But don’t underestimate how important this is to some people.
Search was good. It was very helpful in what was once considered the board’s primary purpose, fighting ignorance via GQ.
It was much better to search and reference previous GQ topic summaries that were put together by some very sharp minds, when the same questions were asked over and over. Much easier than putting together the same information once again.
Now the expectation is that someone is to just zip over to Wiki and cut and paste a few statements and a link. The lowest acceptable response is becoming the de facto standard.
Fine, you don’t use search that often. Some of the rest of us think it’s worth $15/year. And now they have our $15 and it’s gone. You think I paid to post? Hah, check out my post count. And I could have done entirely without those couple hundred posts over 8 years, but this board has a huge backlog of information in it, and there’s no substitute for searching to getting at that information, unless it still happens to be up on a forum page. If I’m thinking about getting LASIK, and I remember that someone posted a “considering getting LASIK done, please tell me your experiences” thread, I want to go back and read that thread, but I have to search for it first. If I’m trying to show my boyfriend a hilarious post I read last week, gotta search for it first. If I want to go see a movie and then read the thread about it, but I don’t get a chance to see the movie for a few weeks after it comes out, gotta search for the thread. So you don’t search often, do you really not understand that some people do?
I seldom use the search for topics but I do click on my own recent posts to remember what I posted about and check if there is any feedback. Not being able to search has eliminated that behavior.
I don’t give two shits about reparations for the time search is down and I care less how long it is down. I just want to get back to normal ASAP.
BTW, I must have a blessed computer or a providence connection because, with or without search I have seldom if ever had… ahem… performance problems on the dope, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
You do realize that in terms of reliability, Chevys beat the dogshit out of most Rolls-Royces, don’t you? What Jerry’s doing is trying to keep a Chevy running with Rolls-Royce parts. (Seriously, from the end of WWII until the Germans did to the diamond of the British automotive industry what they were unbable to do to Britain during the war, Rolls were overpriced pieces of junk.)
I understand that, but it’s only been unavailable for three days as of this posting. You have every right to be annoyed that you can’t search, but it’s just a minor inconvenience, really. You seem to be focussed on the money, but get a grip–you’re complaining, literally, over pennies.
Great point. Then would it kill the PTB to extend the memberships three days*? After all, it’s only pennies.
*or however many days this continues…
Oh, and as long as we’re removing buttons from the header (search and new posts) lets shit-can Members List and Calendar since they never worked anyway.
I wanted to read the rest of the linked thread to get all the details before preparing my bouquets and/or brickbats for TPTB . . . but search is disabled! No link at the top to view entire thread!
