07-17-2010, 09:40 AM
It would seem that it will not be quite as trivial to extract the data as a lot of people seem to assume.
I know that quite a few people have a strong dislike of Kalmbach, and at the drop of a hat are ready to express their distrust of Kalmbach's motives, but Neil Besougloff (sp?), the editor of Model Railroader Magazine, has gone on record as saying that they have no plans of offering the data as a paid service, and that they know of no "sane" (ie economical/sensible) way of extracting the data.
AFAIK, Kalmbach has not claimed that it would be "impossible" to extract the data. Pretty much anything can be done if you are willing to throw enough resources at a problem. It is not a given that it is a sustainable activity. Case in point : going to the moon cost a lot of money. And quite a few lives (mostly in the USSR). And yet - humanity has not been back to the moon since the mid-1970s. Once the propaganda victory of the Soviet Union was won, there was not enough will to keep funding the program.
Anyways, getting back to Kalmbach and their index. You of course may choose to think that Neil B is deliberately lying through his teeth, but there seems to be no particular rational reason to make that assumption.
Not that I expect that to convince people who have a pre-existing dislike of Kalmbach :-)
Grin,
Stein[/quote]
I think this is a pure business move. I find it funny how many folks seem to think Kalmbach is evil just because they are trying to operate a business at a profit. Obviously, costs must be cut for them to continue, just like everybody else. I suppose the alternative is to go out of business completely. The offerings of Kalmbach (old "free" articles in how-to books, web access, etc) must be acceptable to the general readership or they wouldn't exist. Although taking away a free service away from your customers is a risky endeavor, sometimes it just has to be done. Everyone has a right to be angry, but I'm pretty sure you will get nowhere when you call out the very people you are trying to convince pansies or otherwise. To me, the NMRA is no different than Kalmbach, they offer free stuff to everyone to get them hooked, then make you pay for "extras" as a paid member. If NMRA assumes the indexed database, don't be surprised if it is only available to members......
I ain't sayin', I'm just sayin'........
I know that quite a few people have a strong dislike of Kalmbach, and at the drop of a hat are ready to express their distrust of Kalmbach's motives, but Neil Besougloff (sp?), the editor of Model Railroader Magazine, has gone on record as saying that they have no plans of offering the data as a paid service, and that they know of no "sane" (ie economical/sensible) way of extracting the data.
AFAIK, Kalmbach has not claimed that it would be "impossible" to extract the data. Pretty much anything can be done if you are willing to throw enough resources at a problem. It is not a given that it is a sustainable activity. Case in point : going to the moon cost a lot of money. And quite a few lives (mostly in the USSR). And yet - humanity has not been back to the moon since the mid-1970s. Once the propaganda victory of the Soviet Union was won, there was not enough will to keep funding the program.
Anyways, getting back to Kalmbach and their index. You of course may choose to think that Neil B is deliberately lying through his teeth, but there seems to be no particular rational reason to make that assumption.
Not that I expect that to convince people who have a pre-existing dislike of Kalmbach :-)
Grin,
Stein[/quote]
I think this is a pure business move. I find it funny how many folks seem to think Kalmbach is evil just because they are trying to operate a business at a profit. Obviously, costs must be cut for them to continue, just like everybody else. I suppose the alternative is to go out of business completely. The offerings of Kalmbach (old "free" articles in how-to books, web access, etc) must be acceptable to the general readership or they wouldn't exist. Although taking away a free service away from your customers is a risky endeavor, sometimes it just has to be done. Everyone has a right to be angry, but I'm pretty sure you will get nowhere when you call out the very people you are trying to convince pansies or otherwise. To me, the NMRA is no different than Kalmbach, they offer free stuff to everyone to get them hooked, then make you pay for "extras" as a paid member. If NMRA assumes the indexed database, don't be surprised if it is only available to members......I ain't sayin', I'm just sayin'........