honp9@menudo.uh.edu (Jason L. Tibbitts III) (01/23/91)
I want to take a moment to express some of the goals that I wish to achieve by moderating comp.sys.amiga.reviews, and give you a little information about myself to boot. As you probably know already, this group is meant to be a quite like a magazine review column. Reviews are written by people with an interest in assisting the Amiga community in their purchasing or downloading decisions. Anything that is even remotely connected with the Amiga computer is fair game to be reviewed. I mean everything. Hardware, software (both PD and commercial), new OS releases, monitors (even though they're not Amiga specific), even magazines, videos, or TV shows. Absolutely anything that could be of importance to Amiga owners could be reviewed. Of course, I expect a certain quality of reviews. Unlike a magazine, there are no deadlines. Reviewers have the chance to get to know the product in depth before they commit anything to the keyboard. This is how it should be. You see, I envision this group, assuming that I can convince people to actually sit down and write some reviews, as something that can surpass a magazine in the ability to convey useful information to the readers. A magazine has a three to four month lag time. Therefore, the information is either out of date when it gets published, or the reviewer worked with a beta copy of the product and thus is not publishing completely accurate information. Also, since all reviewers are uncompensated volunteers, there can be complete objectivity. I feel that this is very important, because I never have believed in the principle of selling your opinions. Not that I wouldn't offer up a few of my very own to the highest bidder. I don't mean to put down magazines. I believe that one of the better things going for the Amiga has been the enthusiastic support a select few in the publishing industry. I should know, I struggled along with the Amiga back in the old days of V27 Kickstart. If it hadn't been for those magazines, I don't think the Amiga would be where it is today. But enough of my unsolicited opinions. I want to do something that's good for all of you. If the reviews start flowing, then we can get this thing moving. If you read a review and you have something to add, I'm providing for that. I'll collect organized responses and post them together. It's somewhat like a letters column, or a 'Your turn' section. And now it really is your turn. I've said my piece. It's up to all of you to run with it. -- Jason L. Tibbitts III | Moderator: comp.sys.amiga.reviews "Blob Shop Programmers:| Send submissions to HONP9@menudo.uh.edu Because We're Bored!" | Check comp.sys.amiga.reviews for submissions Disclaimer: Opinions...| guide, disclaimers, etc. Fnord.