Privatising AllTrac.net

Privatise AllTrac.net??

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

coyoteboy

New member
Yes, but yet again I'll point out that the OC charges what it costs to run the events and membership recording costs plus a little spare to cover people never turning up to events when they say they will - its not just a forum/website - you cant make that simplification. There were big arguments over this only last year, people wanting publication of the accounts etc to see where their money went. In all honesty I couldnt be bothered checking through it with a fine toothed comb but it looked above board and their point was that a HUGE % of their cash went on paying for cancelled events because loads put their name down and then everyone backed out after it was booked. They werent really charging for the forums and still provide forum space for chatter and discussion even when you dont have full membership.
The thing they were also wary of was "newbies" coming in, reading all the info, asking 400 questions then just going away - there was a brain drain, and when the more knowledgeable people got new cars and dissappeared there was no-one left with enough commitment to keep it all together. The UK GT4 contingent is very small and all such problems are amplified in a small group.

I see both sides perfectly clearly but I disagree with Dennis' feeling that it was being done just to make money, and i disagree with charging for access to freely given knowledge.

Still no-one's added free info to my wiki :D
 

Gary

Moderator
coyoteboy":17c9co9v said:
Yes, but yet again I'll point out that the OC charges what it costs to run the events and membership recording costs plus a little spare to cover people never turning up to events when they say they will - its not just a forum/website - you cant make that simplification. There were big arguments over this only last year, people wanting publication of the accounts etc to see where their money went. In all honesty I couldnt be bothered checking through it with a fine toothed comb but it looked above board and their point was that a HUGE % of their cash went on paying for cancelled events because loads put their name down and then everyone backed out after it was booked. They werent really charging for the forums and still provide forum space for chatter and discussion even when you dont have full membership.
The thing they were also wary of was "newbies" coming in, reading all the info, asking 400 questions then just going away - there was a brain drain, and when the more knowledgeable people got new cars and dissappeared there was no-one left with enough commitment to keep it all together. The UK GT4 contingent is very small and all such problems are amplified in a small group.

I see both sides perfectly clearly but I disagree with Dennis' feeling that it was being done just to make money, and i disagree with charging for access to freely given knowledge.

Still no-one's added free info to my wiki :D
Well, there are many GT4 owners that will never be able to attend their meeting due to geographical constraint.
Still, the fee applies to everyone no matter where they live.
So, that is not a really good excuse.

AT.net and GT4 mailing lists have been up for years, free of charge.
People come and go. Knowledge is still there.
Information you acquire from others for free should remain free to others.
Contribution should be voluntary.
 

coyoteboy

New member
a) The club was a UK club, anyone within the UK could easily get to the events if they tried - no-one did, me included. If you're from abroad - either make the choice to pay or go elsewhere - its not like it was the ONLY place for the info. It wasnt an excuse, it was a reason - they need no excuse to charge for things that cost :shrug: And if you need access to info you know is on there specifically you can join and get 2 months IIRC free membership to all the forum areas. For me it was worth the £20 as the information on there was more accurate than anywhere else I looked, it and their discounts saved me more in parts costs in 3 months than the membership cost?

b) Yes there are free boards but IMO they have lower standards of technical knowledge and less retained knowledge than a dedicated, fee paying base. Still very very useful.

I look like I'm arguiing for privatisation, im not for the reason of not charging for something that was given freely - I'm just explaining why it is good. IF you were starting from scratch a fee based system would breed more dedicated followers and have more benefits. IF you're just looking for basic answers to basic questions then use free boards. People need a base of knowledge to work and progress from - with transient newbies who own the car for a year then bugger off all you get is that base level maintained, you dont get a dedicated owner decoding the ECU, writing full how-to's etc as often - that sort of thing.

But im still against it here, and I'm working to build up that base and expand on it with the wiki and my personal website. I dont charge for those, which should be a hint as to what i think ultimately.
 

silverarrow

New member
I also say no just because everything should remain free and public. Thumbs up for Robert!!! What's the point of having a forum if you're going to make it private? Other sites quoting alltrac.net would just bring more traffic through here and publicity.
 

gt4tified

New member
Hmmmm, is the real issue here recognition or just a grouse? I think that the internet (albeit sadly in some cases) is a free-for-all and content management continues to be the single biggest problem for persons involved.

I use the internet to do 2 things, to communicate (like on at.net) and to research, whether for personal use or for my job. I do not plagiarize ppl's work and I never did this in my life, but if there's something there that's good know-how, I will download/bookmark it etc. for my use.

That's how I probably know 99% of what I know about the alltrac, from this site predominantly, and if the content ever goes private, I'd still pay to use it! :wink:

BTW, by privatizing the site, there's no guarantee that it will stop intellectual property theft, plagiarism etc.
 

alltrac.net

New member
Even if it wasn't the coolest or most multimedia worthy site, I just want it to be free information.

I have used other FREE resources to fix MY car via the web before and it really saved me. Users of the site should never pay.

It all started on the yahoo list back in 98 (for free), so that moment in time shall always live on here.

The sponsors that pay are just chipping in to help with the hosting cost. However, for the low price they pay the return should be great on their end.

I don't mind a business using the site to gather information. However, using the site to make money always gets to me. For example, BayAreaAT has made lots of money from this site, but never paid a cent. That should really get to the vendors that DID pay. He never made a website of his own and even use the photo album that *I* spent hours personally installing, to display his products.

Take a few minutes and make a website of your own in my opinion. It is the equivalent of someone else having a yard sale in your lawn. But that is just my 2 cents.

It is all in good fun though.
 

3sgtenavyman

New member
robert@alltrac.net":rkmkrj7r said:
It is all in good fun though.


Is this not the idea of owning an AT? :shrug:

That’s the hole reason I spent the money to buy mine when I didn't even see pix, I went off a friends view over the phone but I knew what ever went wrong with it I would have FUN and that I would have this site to help out and talk to people that feel the same thing I do when I get behind the wheel, my wife sits in it and it's just a car.... but to most of the people on alltrac.net and my self is a different world some times I become a different person (in a good way) my alltrac is my happiness and good fun.

Happy driving to all alltrac owners
Jonathan
 
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