If the same question is asked a million times does the answer change?

[lavrishevo]

I don't know about you guys but I can only answer the same questions a certain amount of times before I just don't care anymore. Please, search for question before making a new thread after thread after thread...

[Michael CM1]

I'm 100% there with you. It's especially annoying when it's something either so darn simple/common or so darn "uh, we don't know that." The first is stuff like "can I use the iPhone 3G without a 3G network?" The second is "when will Apple release a 32GB iPhone?"

Ranters, please note. There is no problem discussing when we think something will happen. Like "when do you think the 32GB iPhone will come out?" But please don't ask us like there is some actual inside source that trolls around here.

On a side note, if you're going to rant, take it from an expert and don't write a 15-page rant without hitting the return button. Didn't anybody ever teach you about paragraphs? When I see a huge-ass block of text, I instantly go elsewhere.

[Me1000]

But will the iPhone work on Verison? :rolleyes:

[sr5878]

When will there be a G5 Macbook Pro? :confused::confused::confused:

[Me1000]

When will there be a G5 Macbook Pro? :confused::confused::confused:

yes... Next Tuesday :P hahah

[BOSS10L]

Searching is waaay too much work though. It is much easier in our ADD-addled society to just post the questions, nervously biting our nails waiting for the answer while someone else does the legwork for us.

<--Removes tongue that was firmly planted in cheek. :D

[swr2000]

I don't know but the answers definitely get snarkier

[Blown01NJ]

Searching doesnt work for me. I keep getting no matches even when searching the simplest terms.

[Apple Ink]

I think that the Mods should put up a big banner stating all the common queries just above the New Thread button in the iPhone Forum!

[acvball92]

ONLY ONE SPEAKER WORKS!!!:mad::rolleyes::p:D

[bluenoise]

Do I need a data plan for my iPhone? Why can't I do MMS messages? Do I have to sign up for a two year contract if I want an unlocked iPhone? One of my speakers seems broken. Can I get the ETF waived if I sell my iPhone on eBay? Is my battery defective? Why can't I remove the battery? Will Apple replace my iPhone under warranty if I sat on it and crushed the screen? What about if I accidentally dropped it in the toilet?

[squeakyclutch]

I agree, but this does not apply to my cellular service provider. I could call 5 times in a row, and get 5 completely different answers.

[princealfie]

searching sucks on this forum. I tested just 1 word terms and guess what? Nothing showed up. So that's that dudes.

[mcdj]

http://rknydesign.com/bart.gif

[sr5878]

fixed:

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6782/bartcr8.jpg

[mrat93]

TRY SEARCHING! ALREADY POSTED! :p

[Mr. Giver '94]

Does Safari seem snappier to you? Well, does it? :p

[Ish]

When's the 4G coming out? Anybody know????????

[cantankerously]

Where the hell is the copy/paste feature?

[princealfie]

Question asked in the year 1999:

Sorry but does Apple have a phone ready for us?

Answer: Nope.

Question asked in the year 2005:

Sorry but does Apple have a phone ready for us?

Answer: Nope.

Question asked in the year 2008:

Sorry but does Apple have a phone ready for us?

Answer: Yes!!!!

That's the same question asked over a period of time and the answer can change... so pfffffffttttttttttttttt.........

[Julien]

http://rknydesign.com/bart.gif

Why do people keep incorrectly saying this:confused: If your iPhone only has 1 speaker working your iPhone IS broken.

[barryallott]

excuse me, I dont know if this is the right place to ask, but how do I send an MMS with the iPhone? when will this be added?

[Ish]

Should I buy one now or wait????

[Doctor Q]

Should I buy one now or wait????
The answer to that question does change over time, but more people should use the Buyer's Guide to get their initial answer.

[Eidorian]

Haven't I answered this one already? (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=411895)

[Sesshi]

Yes and no. Maybe.

[localoid]

This sort of thing happens on any open forum, and a steady stream of new users increases the likelihood of it happening. There's not much you can do about it (short of censorship). At best, a free and open online message forum is organized chaos. Embrace it and enjoy the dynamism of chaos. (Resistance is futile.)

[carlgo]

It takes a long time to ask a question 1000 times. Things change.

The first 999 answers may suck.

Their may be no answers to the first 999 questions.

Nobody wants to read 999 answers.

Who wants to search for ****?

[IJ Reilly]

Which is better, Office or iWork?

Should I buy AppleCare?

(Who says perpetual motion is impossible!)

[Applepwns]

over time the answer will probably change.

[IJ Reilly]

Who wants to search for ****?

Who wants to answer it?

[Apple Ink]

When's the 4G coming out? Anybody know????????

Hmmmm.... Is it 'that' common a question? Doesnt seem so!

[Antares]

The search option on this site does not work very well...and I'm pretty savy about search terms, too. It also doesn't help that how people title their posts many not perfectly match what your question is....even though the content of that post/topic may answer your question... Plus, it's often much more time consuming to drudge through hundreds of posts to try and see if any of them ask or answer your question. Some people don't have the liberty of that time.

Repostings of the same question or comment is common in all fora. There is no viable, perfect solution, either (if there was, this whole topic wouldn't even exist right now, would it?). "Search before you post" is a stop-gap solution. It may solve a few similar postings. However it would be impossible to stop all of them.

I just say, suck it up and deal with it. If you're tired of a question being asked, ignore it. Somebody else will answer it or the original poster will have to end up doing more of his own research....

[IJ Reilly]

The search function is far from perfect, but it's not nearly so flawed as it's often advertised to be. The strongest way of using it is to search for keywords in thread titles instead of within posts. Searching for "iwork office" in thread titles for instance reveals many of the dozens of threads started on this topic recently. Anyone who made this simply query would probably discover not only that their questions are likely to have already been answered in detail, but also that starting yet another thread on the subject would be tedious at best.

These forums are also well indexed by Google. A lot of answers to common (and uncommon) questions can be found here this way.

I won't apologize for sometimes becoming impatient with people who post questions here when the answers could have been found with a minimal amount of effort.

[GorillaPaws]

Plus, it's often much more time consuming to drudge through hundreds of posts to try and see if any of them ask or answer your question. Some people don't have the liberty of that time...

I just say, suck it up and deal with it. If you're tired of a question being asked, ignore it. Somebody else will answer it or the original poster will have to end up doing more of his own research....

If you don't have "the liberty of that time" to use Macrumors in accordance with the rules, perhaps you should consider a different source for obtaining the information you desire. Multiple posts are obnoxious and are part of the reason you have to "drudge through hundreds of posts" in the first place. It's a bit analogous to the %^&* who will drive up the merging lane all the way to the ending bottleneck and thereby causing the slowdown for everyone on the interstate because they're in a hurry (like their time is THAT much more important than anyone else's).

Searching does a fairly decent job of finding what you're looking for (I use the search with the disclosure triangle that's just below the page 2 tab). There's also a way to make Google search just Macrumors I think (although I've never done it, nor tried). The strength of this site is the dedication of the community; best not to take advantage of that goodwill and do what you can to be a positive presence in the community if you expect others to do the same.

[Rojo]

I have to say that as annoying as it is to see the SAME questions asked over and over and over again, it's just as annoying (sometimes more so) to see the same old "Do a search!" responses, especially when it's delivered with extreme venom or a sour attitude.

I've actually seen some "Do a search!"-type responses that are so long, they end up being longer than if the OP's question was simply answered to begin with -- so what's the point, especially when you're being so nasty about it?

As Antares said, just ignore the question if you don't feel like answering it. Until the search function becomes better (heck, I've tried searching for threads I've posted on, and threads I've even STARTED -- and have sometimes come up empty), this is going to continue to happen.

If you absolutely positively MUST feel the need to reply with a "Do a search first"-type post, please try and at least be nice about it (some people here do already, but unfortunately not all).

[Consultant]

Searching doesnt work for me. I keep getting no matches even when searching the simplest terms.

Use google to search the macrumors site:

mroogle.edesignuk.com (http://mroogle.edesignuk.com)

[GGJstudios]

I don't know but the answers definitely get snarkier
The answers get snarkier because people get tired of answering the same questions over and over again, just because people are too lazy to search the forums before posting a new thread. Even if you post a link to search results that contain their answer, they're too lazy to click on the links and read. They want someone to spoon-feed them the answer. It gets really old after a while!

Should I get a Matte or Glossy screen?
Do I need virus protection on my Mac?
Which External Hard Drive is best?
Should I buy now or wait?
Where/how/should I upgrade RAM?
What applications do you recommend?
When will the next product update come out?
Are batteries covered by warranty?
Is this MBP for $600 on Craigslist a good deal?
MacBook or MacBook Pro?
What is the keyboard shortcut for ...?
Mac or Windows?
....and so on.
The search option on this site does not work very well...
The search function is far from perfect..
...There's also a way to make Google search just Macrumors I think (although I've never done it, nor tried)..
searching sucks on this forum..
Searching doesnt work for me...
I agree with Consultant. Use MRoogle (http://mroogle.edesignuk.com/) to search the forums with the Google search engine. Just bookmark this link (http://mroogle.edesignuk.com/) and use it whenever you want to search for a topic in the forums.

Mac 101 (http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/) a tour of the Mac OS X
Apple Support (http://www.apple.com/support/) search Apple Support and the Knowledge Base
MRoogle (http://mroogle.edesignuk.com/) for searching the forums with Google (always a good idea before posting new questions)
How to set up a quick right-click search of the MR forums. (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=5853481#post5853481)
MacRumors FAQ (http://guides.macrumors.com/Help:MacRumors_FAQ)
MacRumors Rules (http://guides.macrumors.com/Help:Forum_Rules)
MacRumors Guides (http://guides.macrumors.com/Category:Guides) Very helpful stuff!

[QuantumLo0p]

If nobody is there to listen to the answer, is there an answer?
:D

[iMacmatician]

I think that the Mods should put up a big banner stating all the common queries just above the New Thread button in the iPhone Forum!Seconded.

Members could put up their own queries that they see often as well (like "When are the new notebooks coming out?").

The answer to that question does change over time, but more people should use the Buyer's Guide to get their initial answer.The Buyer's Guide includes minor updates such as the 8-core Mac Pro as regular updates, so it's not entirely accurate in that regard.

An option to "Show only significant updates" could be available. I can also see a standard deviation being useful in the Buyer's Guide too.

[jeremy.king]

I don't know about you guys but I can only answer the same questions a certain amount of times before I just don't care anymore. Please, search for question before making a new thread after thread after thread...

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=411895
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=316433
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=225206

[sra. Aguirre]

I don't know about you guys but I can only answer the same questions a certain amount of times before I just don't care anymore. Please, search for question before making a new thread after thread after thread...

Well I do see your point, but if a thread has 500 replies it is hard to find the answer you are looking for and much easier to post a new thread, hoping not the same people have to answer them. (cause I agree, that must be a drag!)

My suggestion is to write a piece of software in the spotlight kind of way, where when I start typing my thread title, depending on what keywords I use, it scans threads and posts already dealing with those keywords so I can just scroll and pick the one that comes closest. (after scanning existing thread titles of course and not really finding one that fits your search)

The same way the search engines are functioning nowadays....it isn't only a drag for the replying end, also for the ones asking the question it is a weeks worth of work to not repeat questions (am not talking about "obvious" questions....) and look up every reply and post to see if your question has already been answered.

I DON"t WANT TO SEARCH GOOGLE AND GET TONS OF OTHER FORUMS, I WANT TO GOOGLE SEARCH IN THIS FORUM...

[scotty96LSC]

Are we there yet???

[mogzieee]

I've seen so may posts about MS Office or iWork... I've lost all sympathy to care.

[GGJstudios]

I DON"t WANT TO SEARCH GOOGLE AND GET TONS OF OTHER FORUMS, I WANT TO GOOGLE SEARCH IN THIS FORUM...

That's why we keep recommending that people use MRoogle (http://mroogle.edesignuk.com/) to search. It uses Google to search ONLY MacRumors Forums.

[alexlovesmacs]

MacRumors should use the feature that Yahoo! Answers have, when you type the title of the question it shows up other questions people have solved.

[mashny]

If a child is sitting in the back of the car, and keeps asking, "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" The answer will eventually be "Yes." So the answer to an incessantly repeated question can ultimately be an answer different from all those previously given.

[Primejimbo]

I try to use the search all the time but sometimes I get pages of stuff and its a pain.