Could we have an Alternate OS thread?

[chrono1081]

Hi Macrumors,

I was wondering if it would be possible to make an "Alternate OS" thread for the tons of Android/Windows/whatever threads that pop up. Its annoying to come to mac rumors and find more Android threads then anything in the iPad section. A lot of these are nothing more than troll threads with masks on.

By creating an Alternate OS thread if people wanted to yap about Android/Windows/Etc they could go there and keep the other threads clear.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I'm fairly sure you're not the only one who has the same concern, especially when iPad threads get derailed.

A few years ago, when the iPhone came out and the iPhone forums were set up, there were also a lot of threads in there about other phones and manufacturers, which seemed to annoy a lot of people and draw a lot of hostile discussion, so much so that I created a poll and placed it as a sticky in there to gauge how people felt about using the iPhone forums in this way.

From memory, after 3-4 months of leaving the poll open, I think it split fairly evenly, with about half of the iPhone regulars wanting to keep it purely iPhone-related, the other half wanting to talk about rival smartphones in the iPhone forum.

There was some discussion about having a policy where we would move Nokia-related threads (for instance) into Community Discussion, a practice that didn't really work out and doesn't seem to have been continued, perhaps because the problem has subdued a little or that it didn't represent an ideal solution either.

So, it's a similar situation and has affected more than just the iPad forums over the years. Perhaps there's scope for setting up a new, broad but carefully limited umbrella or sub-forum for non-Apple tech with a little shuffling around.

Or perhaps it might be best to just ride it out for a while, sit tight, keep an eye on whether this is a temporary thing and see where things stand in a few months. The tablet tide is high right now; what will it be like when the water recedes a little?

 

[Consultant]

The derailing posts typically reduces once the iPad competitor of the month runs out of advertising / shilling budget for their specific product.

 

[miles01110]

By creating an Alternate OS thread if people wanted to yap about Android/Windows/Etc they could go there and keep the other threads clear.

No, it wouldn't. People don't bother to post relevant replies in the proper "mega threads" in the first place (take a look at the daily "Just got my MBP" threads as an example). Plus, Android/Windows/whatever threads are often on different enough topics that merging them would cause accusations of stifling discussion of alternative OSs.