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If the same question is asked a million times does the answer change?
- Thread starter lavrishevo
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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.)
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 ****?
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 ****?
Which is better, Office or iWork?
Should I buy AppleCare?
(Who says perpetual motion is impossible!)
Should I buy AppleCare?
(Who says perpetual motion is impossible!)
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....
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....
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.
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.
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.
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).
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).
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!
I agree with Consultant. Use MRoogle to search the forums with the Google search engine. Just bookmark this link and use it whenever you want to search for a topic in the forums.
Mac 101 a tour of the Mac OS X
Apple Support search Apple Support and the Knowledge Base
MRoogle 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.
MacRumors FAQ
MacRumors Rules
MacRumors Guides Very helpful stuff!
Seconded.
Members could put up their own queries that they see often as well (like "When are the new notebooks coming out?").
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.
suggestion for forum infrastructure
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...
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...
That's why we keep recommending that people use MRoogle to search. It uses Google to search ONLY MacRumors Forums.
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.
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.