Value for Value (was Re: META: ExI dues; list quality)

Michael M. Butler (butler@comp*lib.org)
Sun, 30 Nov 1997 18:21:09 -0800


It comes down to "am I getting $95 worth of value out of the connections I
make and the things I get to put together out of pieces I find each year on
this list?"

I'd say I got at least that much out of the list this past year.
Unfortunately, I also let myself get sucked into a lot of time-wasting
arguments, so my year on the list comes out as a net loss. I am coming to
be more aware that my attention is the only thing I have of value to me.

Yes it's expensive, if this is the plan. But _I'll_ gamble a 1-year
membership if the people who stay all plan to make the experience worth
$95/yr to each other. I think of it as a pledge. I'm not being snotty about
the decision I've made to invest. I expect dividends or I'll cut my losses. :)

YMMV.

MMB

Not being a member doesn't mean anything. Being a member means you put some
money where your mouth is.
What's the problem? Honestly?

>More interesting is the right to "sponsor one new member". This implies
>either that future membership will be restricted to those spoken for by
>members, which is disturbing, or (more likely) that a current member
>gets to bring in one new one for free. Perhaps people will be more
>likely to spring for that than paying lower fees and sponsoring their
>friends directly. To me, it seems odd. And expensive.

It's a possible alternative (and I don't know what I think of it yet).
Subscription is simple, any complication starts to grow nonlinearly.

...
>Not to mention the person who was happy to buy things from ExI, but
>didn't want to join, because he didn't join institutions.

Well, ExI isn't the only game in town. There is a lot of transhuman doing
to be done. Excelsior!

MMB

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