OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

262821 Charles Driggs <cdinde@v...> 2017‑08‑12 Re: Concern for the list
Bruce wrote
> Perhaps we have talked out the issues?  Perhaps we have no new Galoots
> that need knowledge?  Perhaps I'm just  reading something in here that
> isn't present?
> 

Bruce, you are hardly the only person to have noticed the change.  I’ve been on
the Porch for almost as long as it has existed, and the change you speak of does
exist.  We have indeed lost a lot of the ‘old timers’, and traffic is down.   To
some extent I think it is because we have covered so many issues and come up
with new websites full of information that are now being maintained, along with
the Archives.  I do think that another of the contributing issues is that we
lost several people who were prolific sources of postings, either to the great
flea market in the sky or because they moved on to new interests.  Those folks
generated a lot of traffic, a lot of information flowed as a result, and some
generated a lot of laughter.  Unfortunately flea markets / boot sales are a
diminished source of finds & stories now that e*ay is a go-to place for many
tool sellers, but at least there still are some great individual sources for the
tools we can use or collect online, and participating here.

You may have noticed too that many of the regulars posting over the last year
are newbies in the context of the age of the Porch, and I see that as a good
thing.  I’m not surprised that many of our new participants are posting
questions we old hands have hashed out in the past, sometimes in long exchanges
of ideas.  But let’s face it, there has been a lot of opportunity to do that
over the last two decades, and much of it is found the Archives.  Unfortunately,
the Archives doesn’t go back all the way, so some very good discussions are not
in it.  The obvious question I was wondering a year ago was ”Is the Porch dying
off?”, and I came to the conclusion the answer was ‘No', many of us old hands
are just watching the questions being posted and responding only when we feel we
have something to add.  The Porch has hit a Mature stage of development.

I hope this group will keep going as long as Chris can keep hosting it, and if
he can’t do that anymore, someone else hopefully will step up.  After all, he
wasn’t the first host by any means.  The Porch is just too good a resource for
many people, including those who are yet to discover their interest in either
‘old tools’ or the Porch.

Charlie Driggs
Newark DE

Recent Bios FAQ