XPost: news.groups, rec.arts.comics.dc.universe, rec.arts.sf.tv   
   XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: your.name@isp.com   
      
   "aemeijers"  wrote in message   
   news:4qSdnd-ETL82NIPQnZ2dnUVZ_qudnZ2d@giganews.com...   
   > On 12/31/2010 6:22 PM, SFTV_troy wrote:   
   > >   
   > > I'm also wondering about this so-called "decline" of Usenet?  I first   
   > > joined back in 1988 and the Usenet back then, even in busy groups like   
   > > rec.arts.startrek, was just a few messages a day.   
   > >   
   > > Now there are hundreds of messages.  It's pretty clear Usenet has   
   > > grown a LOT since it's early days.   Maybe it's lost a few users this   
   > > last decade but overall it's still bigger now than what it was circa   
   > > 1990.  (Pre-AOL eternal september.)   
   >   
   > Fewer messages back in the 80s, but they were of higher quality. You had   
   > to have connections and a few brain cells to participate in those   
   > pre-GUI days. Now days, most of the 'work related' (college or   
   > corporate) usenet groups have fled to private web forums, and aside from   
   > porn and pirate groups, about all that is left is a few hobby groups and   
   > the noise groups. Sure, the index has 10k group titles, but most are   
   > abandoned, other than the occasional spam shotgun post.   
      
   Many were created by the morons. For example (among MANY others),   
   alt.cows.moo.moo and alt.cows.moo.moo.moo.  :-\   
      
      
   > Not at all like the old days when newfeeds were a cooperative measure   
   > between sysadmins doing it on the QT and hoping their bean counters   
   > didn't notice. Now that most ISPs have dropped news hosting, the choices   
   > are the few free hosts, a pay host, or Google Groups (which, to most   
   > people under 35, is what they think Usenet IS.)   
   >   
   > Nothing lasts forever. Like dialup BBS systems (a few of which are still   
   > out there), Usenet is withering away, replaced by newer and shiner toys.   
   > TV news today said that Facebook is now like 10 percent of internet   
   > volume. Even web pages are getting replaced by that silly private   
   > mini-internet. The wonderful anarchy of the early internet is being   
   > Borg'd. All hail the new corporate overlords.   
      
   If such thinsg actually got rid of the spammers, porn idiots and pirates,   
   then it might well be worth it to make "the Internet" an actual useful   
   resource instead of the cess pool it currently is.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)