Wirt makes an excellent point, and one that had not previously occurred
to me.  The HP3000-L is really like a long, continuous users' group
meeting.  I still believe, however, that there is a place for RUG meetings.
The kind of topic that is addressed in a one or two-hour presentation is
difficult to address in this medium (talk about bandwidth!), and it's also
nice to be able to do some local networking.  I guess the message we
can take from this, is that RUG meetings probably don't need to happen as
frequently as they did ten years ago, and that programs should be
chosen with the goal of providing information that isn't readily available
here.

>>> Wirt Atmar <[log in to unmask]> 06/18/98 04:18pm >>>
Art seriously asks:

> So what is the cause?  and what is the Future?

A good portion of the cause is what you're reading now. The rise of the
internet and the HP3000-L has clearly obsoleted a lot of the reason for a
local user group meeting.

Sitting here, without having to get up and leave my desk or take time off
from
work, more information comes to me, in a more agreeable format, than it
ever
did in any local user group meeting  -- and I was rather religious about
attending those meetings when they were held ten or so years ago at our
local
HP office, even though it meant a 120 mile drive, round-trip.

Times change. To my mind, the days of the local user group meetings
were --
more or less -- the dark ages. In that regard, we have now entered a
new
period of enlightenment. In a very real way, the HP3000-L operates as if it
were one long user group meeting, but not just for an hour or two, but
essentially continuously, although in a manner more enjoyably attended,
more
informatively presented, more productively implemented, and with a much
greater reach, than ever were the original meetings.

Times change -- and the quality and value of this list that we all now
enjoy
can't be overstated. All I miss from the old days are the free lunches
(which
were quite good) HP used to serve.

Wirt Atmar