At 12:51 AM 4/13/97 -0400, you wrote:
>On Sat, 12 Apr 1997, Dan Lester wrote:
>
>> Even in subjects where there
>> are multiple lists, I'll bet the difference is the owner's style, exact
>> definition of subject, mail volume, or other stuff rather than what
>> software it runs on.
>That's because the users are not made aware of the differences. It
>doesn't take a genius to be able to see the differences. Just a little
>education. Anyone knows of a comparative study for the end
>user understandable by user lambda? I would put it on my mailing lists site
>without hesitation.
>
I'll respectfully disagree with you until there is some research that
confirms what you say. As someone with a LOT of background and experience
in research methodology and stats, I'll say that you'd have a difficult
time coming up with comparable groups/lists/etc. I'd also say that from
checking sources like http://www.liszt.com/ that there aren't many areas
where there are "identical lists" running under different list management
software. There are ones on similar or related topics, but hardly the
saem. I can also say that as a number of lists have moved from listserv to
other software due to bad decisions made by managers, in most cases the
membership has not gone down because of the changes. And of course where
there have been changes the other way, the same is true. I sure don't have
all the answers, but after running lists for a decade, and being a member
of MANY lists on a variety of software, I'll still say that to the average
user it just doesn't mean diddly.
This is hardly any different from the folks who fly on planes, read the
paper, etc. Most don't care whether it is a 727 or 737, don't care if the
cab you ride in is a chevy or ford, don't care what brand of transmitter
your tv station uses, and so forth. Yes, there are exceptions (and I
fully expect every one of them to be raised here, though hope they aren't).
cyclops
Dan Lester
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In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Erasmus, 1534
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