Subj : promotion, nostalgia, the future
To   : August Abolins
From : Charles Pierson
Date : Sun Jan 31 2021 17:36:38

On 31 Jan 2021, August Abolins said the following...
 AA>  CP> ..agree a written article would possibly work
 AA>  CP> as well, but it obviously would have to to show relevance
 AA>  CP> today.
 AA> 
 AA> Which reminds me, how's your article coming along? I would  
 AA> imagine that it would expound on the relevance for today  
 AA> especially since you are enthusiastic about building BBS  
 AA> accessibility from a smartphone.

It's stalled. Between the health scare with my wife, and getting this thing
running, and finding ways to make these implementations for accessible to the
average smartphone user, it's fallen to the background.

 AA>  CP> ..I actually prefer writing on potrait. Landscape the
 AA>  CP> onscreen keyboard takes up too much of the screen. Mayne
 AA>  CP> with an external keyboard, but I don't really care for the
 AA>  CP> one I have.
 AA> 
 AA> OK.. I just realized that the writing part could be done in  
 AA> portrait, while the reading part could be done in 16:9 mode if  
 AA> the original posts are fixed width at over 65 chars per line.
 AA> 

Perhaps with a native app for Android.  If I were to try it on this setup it
dies strange things and makes it more difficult overall. Still not something
I woukd do, but other people might.

 AA>  AA>> So.. the experience doesn't have to stay limited to the
 AA>  AA>> initial "chat" echos afterall.
 AA> 
 AA>  CP> I never thought it did.
 AA> 
 AA> Excellent!  Since the person can flip the phone any way that  
 AA> suits them, then any echo has the capacity to look fine.
 AA> 

Why wouldn't it?  Other than ANSI graphics, or RIP if any are still around,
for the most part echos are all "chat". Some just have specific topics.

 AA>  CP> That would be a matter of perception. As far as I see right
 AA>  CP> now it's very nearly a catch-22. More new users would
 AA>  CP> likely gain interest in expandinh things, and more echos
 AA>  CP> available would henerate more interest.
 AA> 
 AA> It's still very early in the process. Even just the core  
 AA> english-speaking echos ought to be a good start for most people  
 AA> as they aclimate to processes and the community.  Stas just  
 AA> added %HELP and %LIST options to the Fido2teleBOT!
 AA> 

I saw that.  I'm guessing the have to do with available features in the chat
groups?

 AA>  CP> That's a great sentiment. It's something I agree with.
 AA>  CP> Unfortunately, easier said than done.
 AA> 
 AA> Like I said, it's still very early in the game. There really  
 AA> hasn't been any regular promotion about the Fidonet<->Telegram  
 AA> linkup.  Meanwhile, there are over 500 million more users in  
 AA> Telegram than there were just a couple weeks ago.  So many fish  
 AA> in the sea!  ;)

It's a double edged sword. of those 500 million how many are interested in
conversation, and how many just want to share what theu ate for lunch?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
 * Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357

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