Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!rodan.acs.syr.edu!rsholmes
From: rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Rich Holmes)
Subject: Re: RFD: Alternate proposal
Message-ID: <1991May15.212612.17781@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
References: <1991May13.160635.5534@rodan.acs.syr.edu> <1991May14.221202.12894@Think.COM>
Date: Wed, 15 May 91 21:26:12 GMT

In article <1991May14.221202.12894@Think.COM> laird@think.com writes:
>In article <1991May13.160635.5534@rodan.acs.syr.edu> rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Rich Holmes) writes:
>>     comp.sys.handhelds.hp       -- discussion of all HP handhelds
>>     comp.sys.handhelds.misc     -- discussion of non-HP handhelds
>
>This was discussed and rejected before, both by hp48 owhers and others.  HP
>simply makes too many different sorts of machines to make an "HP-only"
>group to be meaningful.  

Rejected or ignored?  I read most of the original RFD stuff; seemed to me
most of the suggestions for an alternative simply fell into a black hole.
As has this one; yours seems to be the first posted comment on it.  Not what
I would hope to see in a "discussion".

How many "sorts of machines" does HP make?  And in particular, how many sorts
do people want to talk about?  Basically two, as far as I can see: sophisti-
cated scientifics including the 41, 28, 48, etc.; and palmtops, i.e. the 95.
If having both types in the same group is objectionable, then I'd be quite
happy to see comp.sys.palmtops added to the proposal I supported above.  HP
does make lower-end scientifics and financial calculators, but they are 
neither so different nor so commonly-discussed as to preclude their being
grouped in with the high-end scientifics.

As you mention, one could also split on RPL vs. non-RPL; in practice, very
few postings concern themselves with non-RPL HP's (except the 95, again), so
this would be effectively almost the same split with a much more obscure
nomenclature.

>Alternatively, the "comp.sys.handhelds.hp48" group as proposed in the CFD
>should be defined to include other computers of the hp48 family, with the
>understanding that the groups is just called ".hp48" because of the
>recognition factor.

Are we all supposed to recognize that "HP48" really also means "HP28", "HP41",
etc.?  And as you say, that would require a proposal different from the one
placed before us.

As a relatively recent purchaser of an HP48, I like to hear what the
HP28 owners, especially those "old-timers" who've had HP28s for years,
have to say.  Were I one of them, I'd probably be contemplating an HP48 
and would want to hear what the 48 owners have to say.  To me it makes 
little sense to split these two camps.  But if these are to remain in the
same group, then c.s.h.hp is simply the most logical way to split.



-- 
 - Rich Holmes                  rich@suhep.bitnet or rich@suhep.phy.syr.edu
   Syracuse U. Physics Dept.     or if you must: rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu

   The Kuwaitis have oil.  The Kurds don't.  End of story.
