Wouldn't work. No sooner would we get it set up than the Welsh, Scots and Irish would get upset about English dominance, the English would go all arrogant about it and take the piss, then everyone would argue and we'd have to subdivide it into four. Then Yorkshire would start wanting its own forum too, just because it said so.
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How about a UK forum for regional issues...
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Don't see the point.
Other than the massive doubling in price of Adobe software in the UK versus US pricing of Adobe software and similar rip off Briton issues that we can't do anything about with our spineless, vile, government, what regional issues do we have?
But we do that anyway in the specific technical areas.I got advice to check out Crucial for RAM which saved me a lot of money I don't really have. I got info on UK educational pricing on a thread where US people were asking the same thing. We did compare and contrast which is way better than isolation. I want to know what the differences are between the US the UK, Germany, France and everywhere not be stuck in a UK getto.
Other than the massive doubling in price of Adobe software in the UK versus US pricing of Adobe software and similar rip off Briton issues that we can't do anything about with our spineless, vile, government, what regional issues do we have?
But we do that anyway in the specific technical areas.I got advice to check out Crucial for RAM which saved me a lot of money I don't really have. I got info on UK educational pricing on a thread where US people were asking the same thing. We did compare and contrast which is way better than isolation. I want to know what the differences are between the US the UK, Germany, France and everywhere not be stuck in a UK getto.
I expect that the UK contingent just tends to be rowdier than the others. I'd say more like 10%.It would be interesting to see the stats for the nationalities here. It can't be done accurately because there's no requirement to state nationality, but even amongst those who have stated it it would be interesting. Talking of this as an 'international forum' - it could be more like 60% US, 38% UK, 2% other.
I'm not a mod, but I feel I have a respectful opinion to offer, so I'll offer it all the same.
From what I understand in your OP, you're looking for some special "UK" Community Discussion that would also feature threads on iPhones, discounts, and anything else that might have a different pricing structure correct (I'm basing this off of a later post as well:
)?
So, now, we need to ask and answer two questions:
1) Is the Community Discussion so overwhelmingly anti-UK that there will be a marginal benefit by separating the forums?
and
2) Is tech help for UK users hard to get on this forum? And, if it is, will segregation solve that problem?
The answer to Question 1 I think is more difficult to settle. Certainly there are more "American" community discussions, but I don't get the feeling that there is any bias which prevents, deters, or otherwise infringes on any citizen of the Crown to post a reasonable reply (this applies to Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, et al.).
Then again, I'm an American. Do you UKers feel left out? It might be a legitimate concern. I wouldn't presume to tell you how you feel, but judging from this thread, I gather that the UKers are quite happy with the forums as they are (and I'm guessing the Community Discussion is included in that as well).
Now the Community Discussion also includes things like "Current Events" and "PRSI." From what I have seen in both of those, discussion is very rarely strictly about the United States. Even in this very heavy campaign season, there are threads about international politics, and about Argentinean teenagers have two sets of triplets. Surely those aren't exclusive to any nation?
Even if they were, I see members from the UK get quite actively involved. They want to share a differing perspective, and that's what makes the Community Discussion so effective and fun. To sum it up, I've got the brilliant skunk:
Indeed it is. Wouldn't Community Discussions/Current Events/PRSI be boring without international perspective? I think the answer is "yes," and I think I've laid out a good reason as to why.
So, to recap Question 1:
I think I've laid out that the Community Discussion does not have any particular bias against members from the UK (or any place for that matter) and that separation would only weaken, not strengthen, the quality of discussions in the hypothetical "UK" version of Community Discussion.
So, with that settled, let's go on to Question 2:
I have seen many, many threads started by members from the UK, and I see them get tech help all the time. I realize that this is merely a single person's observations and can't to statistical reason, but surely others will note a similar phenomenon?
Even if my observations are wrong, let's consider what benefit could be gained by separating tech advice by region. The first thing to note is that a great deal of tech help relates to hardware or software malfunctioning. This isn't dependent upon a region. The air in Washington doesn't make iPhones work less often than in London or Canberra or Auckland or Ottawa. Granted there are other wireless carriers and the like, but I'll address that point later. The crucial point is that hardware fails relatively equally (unless you're Sesshi
), and that the cause of failure is likely to happen to users from across the globe. Knowing that this is the case, why would Mac Rumors divide possible thread topics strictly on the basis of geography? Is the person from Ottawa going to care if the solution comes from Canada? This seems to be a very critical point, because the wealth of Mac Rumors is found in the knowledge that so many international users have and bring together. It would be a shame to divide that up and render it useless or largely ineffective.
Now, as for things like iPhone plans, and such, I think a simple "iPhone (UK) Tariff Help" can make everything easier. It's already done that way at the moment. What happens as the iPhone spreads to more countries? Should there be a separate forum for each country with an iPhone? That seems ridiculously difficult to administer, watch over, and organize. It seems much easier (on the mods especially) if users would simply designate their locale in their thread titles n'est-ce pas?
Information about discounts is also handled in a similar way (threads are often labeled "HE Discount-UK" or something to that effect. Is that too cumbersome? Is it really worth an entirely separate forum? I'm not convinced (and it seems most aren't).
So, I think I've outlined Question 2 fairly well. The forum does seem provide adequate support for sight users no matter where they are, and, separating the forum would undoubtedly lead to more trouble, which means that it is not worth it.
If you feel that UK users don't get adequate attention, then that's a separate issue. There are other ways to work around the problem aside from segregation (in fact, history has shown that segregation is perhaps the worst alternative).
I hope you don't consider my response to be knee-jerk.
I don't think it's a matter of "getting in the way," it's more a matter of whether or not it's a rational thing to do. Given what I presented above, I don't think it's a rational move.
Aren't two of our mods Kiwis?
I think it's best to let them make that judgement.
Does it matter where the person is? The macbook pro is essentially the same. Or do you mean in terms of deliver times? If it's the latter, why not just ask them where they are in the thread (assuming it isn't obvious)?
If someone wants to share where they're from, that's their prerogative. Forced geographic indicators are no better an idea than gender identifiers.
I think you miss the point. I think the OP is merely asking for a new section where UKers can post UK-specific things (for example, "Anyone know a cheap computer shop in Manchester?"). There is already a separate forum for people who pay subs. I'm not arguing the merits, but maybe the OP's intentions are misunderstood. Or am I doing the misunderstanding?
Is there anything that prevents UK users from doing that at the moment?
In any case, I assumed that the OP was referring to broad categories for separation (both Community type threads like "cheap computer shop in Manchester" and tech related threads) since his posts seem to indicate that.
What, UK specific like...
"OMG HELP SPILLED CHICKEN TIKKA MASSALA ON KEYBOARD!!!!! What do I do?"
We do all (sort of) speak English. And a regional thread is like to be noticed by regional members. If no-one notices it, it was probably too hard or too obscure a question in any case.
Hurrah for Skunk!
(why is he called Skunk and then has an avatar of a frog/toad? Not a criticism, just curious)
Ooh! Do you think so?
OK, well if you catch us being rowdy do make a polite comment.
It's quite possible we don't actually have lives and spend more time here so we don't have to go out and be mugged and/or shot.
PS: I like the cut of your quote! (Not sucking up, it's a good quote, I shall try and remember it)
Actually, that idea isn't without its merits...
I all seriousness though, I don't see any benefit of splitting the forums up in this way. I think that the UK contingent here is large enough to be able to spot and answer UK-specific queries when they crop up pretty well yes, some may get lost along the way but the same is true of posts from Americans, Canadians et al.
The frog happens to live in my garden.(why is he called Skunk and then has an avatar of a frog/toad? Not a criticism, just curious)
You could equally ask why Jaffa Cake's avatar isn't a small chocolate-covered cake/biscuit thing with weird orange filling, or, for that matter, why rdowns' avatar isn't a bottle of barbiturates.
*shudder* a Welsh section. That would just be...havoc. It would soon go down the pan when we tried asking questions in Welsh as our terminology for computer-related things aren't very well known.
I've found that for general help, it's soon established where people are from if the problem's resolution involves you being in a certain country.
Not that much of a problem.
I'm from the UK so let me chuck my bit in.
In general, I don't mind UK topics being mixed in with the international topics. I quite like seeing various nations comment on UK stories, and vice versa. I could go for having separate news / current events sections for USA and 'Everywhere else', but it's no big deal.
Just would be nice to have the real world news separated from the fantasy news. Which one is which, is of course entirely up to the individual MR reader.
As for non-geographically linked discussion, why ay keep it international mon, it's called virtual space for a reason.
There is one specific area that grizzles my wax hackles, and that's the Marketplace. I often look for cheap macs for friends in there, and I have no desire to buy something from the USA. I'm only interested in buying locally. Posters are generally quite good about putting UK in the title, but there is NO WAY to search for UK. Grr!
Google or MR search won't search on two letter keywords. This is a specific UK problem. Aussies can search for Australia in the title as can other nations, but we UK people can't.
Make a specific UK marketplace please. No? Against MR policy? OK, alternative suggestions: create a UK tag that can be searched on, or Arn issues a diktat in the form of a polite request that UK marketplace posters use 'British' instead of 'UK' in their thread titles.
Howszabbaddatt?
In general, I don't mind UK topics being mixed in with the international topics. I quite like seeing various nations comment on UK stories, and vice versa. I could go for having separate news / current events sections for USA and 'Everywhere else', but it's no big deal.
Just would be nice to have the real world news separated from the fantasy news. Which one is which, is of course entirely up to the individual MR reader.
As for non-geographically linked discussion, why ay keep it international mon, it's called virtual space for a reason.
There is one specific area that grizzles my wax hackles, and that's the Marketplace. I often look for cheap macs for friends in there, and I have no desire to buy something from the USA. I'm only interested in buying locally. Posters are generally quite good about putting UK in the title, but there is NO WAY to search for UK. Grr!
Google or MR search won't search on two letter keywords. This is a specific UK problem. Aussies can search for Australia in the title as can other nations, but we UK people can't.
Make a specific UK marketplace please. No? Against MR policy? OK, alternative suggestions: create a UK tag that can be searched on, or Arn issues a diktat in the form of a polite request that UK marketplace posters use 'British' instead of 'UK' in their thread titles.
Howszabbaddatt?
That is perfectly reasonable.
This is a picture of the frog that lives in my garden. He is peering out of the water lily barrel. I had a load of tadpoles a friend brought back for me from the Isle of Wight Jazz festival that grew up in the barrel and jumped out when they grew legs. This one came back again.
I think there are a few more around somewhere.
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Love the misty version...
Since the UK frogs obviously want their own forum, here's my local froggy neighbour... although he lives in an aquarium rather than outdoors...
Since the UK frogs obviously want their own forum, here's my local froggy neighbour... although he lives in an aquarium rather than outdoors...
Oh wow! Fantastic pictures! What amazing eyes he has!
My frog won't let me get close, he's been chased by the neighbourhood cats so it's quite understandable, but I can go up to him at night. The camera flash or the torch light don't seem to bother him. I don't know if he's just asleep or what.
Since we're showing pics of our frogs, here's mine. Red, of course.
Quite spendy but our daughter loves it.
Quite spendy but our daughter loves it.
At this point, this discussion is clearly over. Off-topicness and all; you should have toad the line.
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