RCN and the Internet - Whither Goest Thou?

[Edward Dolan]

I recently did not renew my subscription to RCN, a print publication about
recumbents that I have subscribed to from the very beginning. I did not
renew my subscription because the newsletter (it is not really a magazine)
was overpriced and I could not see paying $5. for an issue based on the 2
year subscription price.

RCN was always nothing but a newsletter. I was hoping it would morph into a
proper magazine but it never did. I supported it all these years because I
wanted to support the recumbent community. But the manufacturers and most
bike shops never supported RCN like they should have because of the slightly
critical reviews appearing in it from time to time. I always respected
Robert Bryant (the editor and chief writer) enormously for being slightly
critical of some recumbents and I had nothing but contempt for the
manufacturers who would not support the newsletter.

But what has really changed recently is all the information you can now get
off the Internet. I think RCN will have to consider becoming an online
publication in the not too distant future. Most folks will not pay $5. an
issue for a newsletter when you can get a tremendous amount of information
off the Internet. I do not like BROL much because it is not critical enough,
but still I can see that is where the future lies.

I have nothing but the best wishes for the future success of RCN, but I
simply will not pay $5. an issue for the newsletter. It is only worth about
$1. or $2. at most.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

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Edward Dolan wrote:
> I recently did not renew my subscription to RCN, a print publication about
> recumbents that I have subscribed to from the very beginning. I did not
> renew my subscription because the newsletter (it is not really a magazine)
> was overpriced and I could not see paying $5. for an issue based on the 2
> year subscription price.
>
> RCN was always nothing but a newsletter. I was hoping it would morph into a
> proper magazine but it never did. I supported it all these years because I
> wanted to support the recumbent community. But the manufacturers and most
> bike shops never supported RCN like they should have because of the slightly
> critical reviews appearing in it from time to time. I always respected
> Robert Bryant (the editor and chief writer) enormously for being slightly
> critical of some recumbents and I had nothing but contempt for the
> manufacturers who would not support the newsletter.
>
> But what has really changed recently is all the information you can now get
> off the Internet. I think RCN will have to consider becoming an online
> publication in the not too distant future. Most folks will not pay $5. an
> issue for a newsletter when you can get a tremendous amount of information
> off the Internet. I do not like BROL much because it is not critical enough,
> but still I can see that is where the future lies.
>
> I have nothing but the best wishes for the future success of RCN, but I
> simply will not pay $5. an issue for the newsletter. It is only worth about
> $1. or $2. at most.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[NYC XYZ]

Indeed, I have also decided not to renew, but it's not even the price,
really. I just don't subscribe to magazines -- taking on RCN and
VeloVision (which was even more expensive at $12 an issue!) was an
extraordinary thing for me, someone who doesn't even follow or tune in
regularly for his favorite shows on TV like "Nova" and "Frontline" and
"POV" and "Wideangle" and "Globe Trekker" and "American Experience" and
"Now" and "BBC World Service" and "Antenne Deux" and "Deutsche
Welle"...heck, if you've noticed, I'm even trolling usenet a lot less
now!

Well, best of luck to Bob and the 'bent-heads who, from one of his
recent editorials, are overwhelmingly in favor of hardcopy...they're
part of what helped get me 'bent, but I ride my bike whether there is a
community or not (and there really isn't one, even in New York, the
Capital of the World -- we see each other on the streets and are
surprised but that's about it...I've got to be the youngest 'bent-rider
at 34 in this town!).



Edward Dolan wrote:
> I recently did not renew my subscription to RCN, a print publication about
> recumbents that I have subscribed to from the very beginning. I did not
> renew my subscription because the newsletter (it is not really a magazine)
> was overpriced and I could not see paying $5. for an issue based on the 2
> year subscription price.
>
> RCN was always nothing but a newsletter. I was hoping it would morph into a
> proper magazine but it never did. I supported it all these years because I
> wanted to support the recumbent community. But the manufacturers and most
> bike shops never supported RCN like they should have because of the slightly
> critical reviews appearing in it from time to time. I always respected
> Robert Bryant (the editor and chief writer) enormously for being slightly
> critical of some recumbents and I had nothing but contempt for the
> manufacturers who would not support the newsletter.
>
> But what has really changed recently is all the information you can now get
> off the Internet. I think RCN will have to consider becoming an online
> publication in the not too distant future. Most folks will not pay $5. an
> issue for a newsletter when you can get a tremendous amount of information
> off the Internet. I do not like BROL much because it is not critical enough,
> but still I can see that is where the future lies.
>
> I have nothing but the best wishes for the future success of RCN, but I
> simply will not pay $5. an issue for the newsletter. It is only worth about
> $1. or $2. at most.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[Edward Dolan]

"NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Indeed, I have also decided not to renew, but it's not even the price,
> really. I just don't subscribe to magazines -- taking on RCN and
> VeloVision (which was even more expensive at $12 an issue!) was an
> extraordinary thing for me, someone who doesn't even follow or tune in
> regularly for his favorite shows on TV like "Nova" and "Frontline" and
> "POV" and "Wideangle" and "Globe Trekker" and "American Experience" and
> "Now" and "BBC World Service" and "Antenne Deux" and "Deutsche
> Welle"...heck, if you've noticed, I'm even trolling usenet a lot less
> now!
>
> Well, best of luck to Bob and the 'bent-heads who, from one of his
> recent editorials, are overwhelmingly in favor of hardcopy...they're
> part of what helped get me 'bent, but I ride my bike whether there is a
> community or not (and there really isn't one, even in New York, the
> Capital of the World -- we see each other on the streets and are
> surprised but that's about it...I've got to be the youngest 'bent-rider
> at 34 in this town!).

RCN was a very worthwhile publication in its early days when information
about recumbents was hard to come by. But now the Internet has changed all
of that.

I belong to an older generation which loved magazines. I subscribed to
dozens over the course of the years. Most you could get for around $15. a
year and they were real magazines (not newsletters) just chock full of
information paid for mostly by the advertisers. I now subscribe to only "The
Weekly Standard" and a computer magazine (PC World) which I don't understand
very well. When you get to be my age (70), it is very hard to learn anything
new.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota



> Edward Dolan wrote:
>> I recently did not renew my subscription to RCN, a print publication
>> about
>> recumbents that I have subscribed to from the very beginning. I did not
>> renew my subscription because the newsletter (it is not really a
>> magazine)
>> was overpriced and I could not see paying $5. for an issue based on the 2
>> year subscription price.
>>
>> RCN was always nothing but a newsletter. I was hoping it would morph into
>> a
>> proper magazine but it never did. I supported it all these years because
>> I
>> wanted to support the recumbent community. But the manufacturers and most
>> bike shops never supported RCN like they should have because of the
>> slightly
>> critical reviews appearing in it from time to time. I always respected
>> Robert Bryant (the editor and chief writer) enormously for being slightly
>> critical of some recumbents and I had nothing but contempt for the
>> manufacturers who would not support the newsletter.
>>
>> But what has really changed recently is all the information you can now
>> get
>> off the Internet. I think RCN will have to consider becoming an online
>> publication in the not too distant future. Most folks will not pay $5. an
>> issue for a newsletter when you can get a tremendous amount of
>> information
>> off the Internet. I do not like BROL much because it is not critical
>> enough,
>> but still I can see that is where the future lies.
>>
>> I have nothing but the best wishes for the future success of RCN, but I
>> simply will not pay $5. an issue for the newsletter. It is only worth
>> about
>> $1. or $2. at most.

 

[NYC XYZ]

Edward Dolan wrote:
>
>
> RCN was a very worthwhile publication in its early days when information
> about recumbents was hard to come by. But now the Internet has changed all
> of that.

Well, to a great degree, yes, but I think RCN still has something of a
unique voice (for all the internet-like typos galore on every page)....

> I belong to an older generation which loved magazines. I subscribed to
> dozens over the course of the years. Most you could get for around $15. a
> year and they were real magazines (not newsletters) just chock full of
> information paid for mostly by the advertisers. I now subscribe to only "The
> Weekly Standard" and a computer magazine (PC World) which I don't understand
> very well.

What? Isn't "PC World" online for free?? I never saw the point of
paying for advertising.

> When you get to be my age (70), it is very hard to learn anything
> new.

Oh, I don't know about that. They just discovered that the brain is
capable of making new brain cells -- and, presumably, connections
between them. And, mercury aside, a diet full of fish is supposed to
help with mental acuity.

> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[Edward Dolan]

"NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>>
>>
>> RCN was a very worthwhile publication in its early days when information
>> about recumbents was hard to come by. But now the Internet has changed
>> all
>> of that.
>
> Well, to a great degree, yes, but I think RCN still has something of a
> unique voice (for all the internet-like typos galore on every page)....
>
>> I belong to an older generation which loved magazines. I subscribed to
>> dozens over the course of the years. Most you could get for around $15. a
>> year and they were real magazines (not newsletters) just chock full of
>> information paid for mostly by the advertisers. I now subscribe to only
>> "The
>> Weekly Standard" and a computer magazine (PC World) which I don't
>> understand
>> very well.
>
> What? Isn't "PC World" online for free?? I never saw the point of
> paying for advertising.

I only like to sit at the computer reading for very limited periods of time.
I will take reading a magazine laid back in my easy chair any old day
compared to reading text off the computer.

>> When you get to be my age (70), it is very hard to learn anything
>> new.
>
> Oh, I don't know about that. They just discovered that the brain is
> capable of making new brain cells -- and, presumably, connections
> between them. And, mercury aside, a diet full of fish is supposed to
> help with mental acuity.

It is also a matter of motivation and attitude too of course. Do you think
you are still going to have as much enthusiasm for life and learning new
things at age 70 as you do at age 35?

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[NYC XYZ]

Edward Dolan wrote:
>
>
> I only like to sit at the computer reading for very limited periods of time.
> I will take reading a magazine laid back in my easy chair any old day
> compared to reading text off the computer.

You need a laptop, then. The LCD screen never tires out my eyes, and a
good laptop is very portable. Thanks to the neighbors' WiFi (another
benefit of New York living), I love lounging on my sofa reading this
that and the other. I can even read it all while on the toilet!

> It is also a matter of motivation and attitude too of course. Do you think
> you are still going to have as much enthusiasm for life and learning new
> things at age 70 as you do at age 35?

I expect to be happy, and I don't think you can quantify something like
that, so your question proceeds from false assumptions. Frankly,
immortality without physical or mental deterioration would be great.
Can't wait for them great minds to discover new things in the universe.
Heck, with all that time on my hands, I'll learn so many things and
then maybe come up with something astonishing myself!

But I also do so look forward to returning to stardust, though. It
will have been fun and interesting, but I shall be glad to get life
over with. Like playing a video game for hours on end, and you don't
regret having done so, but enough is enough. So it's all or nothing
for me. I don't simply want reincarnation or even wind up in some
monotheistic heaven (singing eternal praises to God? What a joke!!).
I'm absolutely convinced, though, that we all die and that's just that.
And that makes me happy!

> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[Edward Dolan]

"NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Edward Dolan wrote:
[...]
>> It is also a matter of motivation and attitude too of course. Do you
>> think
>> you are still going to have as much enthusiasm for life and learning new
>> things at age 70 as you do at age 35?
>
> I expect to be happy, and I don't think you can quantify something like
> that, so your question proceeds from false assumptions. Frankly,
> immortality without physical or mental deterioration would be great.
> Can't wait for them great minds to discover new things in the universe.
> Heck, with all that time on my hands, I'll learn so many things and
> then maybe come up with something astonishing myself!

Trust me on this, you are as doomed as any creature who has ever lived on
this earth. Your 35 year old hope will soon appear absurd to you and you
will despair of life as all wise beings eventually do. Thus spake
Zarathustra.

> But I also do so look forward to returning to stardust, though. It
> will have been fun and interesting, but I shall be glad to get life
> over with. Like playing a video game for hours on end, and you don't
> regret having done so, but enough is enough. So it's all or nothing
> for me. I don't simply want reincarnation or even wind up in some
> monotheistic heaven (singing eternal praises to God? What a joke!!).
> I'm absolutely convinced, though, that we all die and that's just that.
> And that makes me happy!

Yup ... me too. The fact is that almost everyone who lives in an advanced
industrial society is an atheist whether they admit it to themselves or not.
Stardust to stardust - it does not ever get any better than that.

Once I wasn't, Then I was, Now I ain't again.

- Epitaph found on tombstone in Ohio graveyard

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[NYC XYZ]

Edward Dolan wrote:
>
>
> Trust me on this, you are as doomed as any creature who has ever lived on
> this earth. Your 35 year old hope will soon appear absurd to you and you
> will despair of life as all wise beings eventually do. Thus spake
> Zarathustra.

Whatever are you talking about? The whole point is moot since
immortality is impossible right now, particularly the "non-corrupting"
sort I stipulate.

> Yup ... me too. The fact is that almost everyone who lives in an advanced
> industrial society is an atheist whether they admit it to themselves or not.
> Stardust to stardust - it does not ever get any better than that.

Oh, people have long been atheists...if "God" was so self-evident, as
all the theists proclaim, then why does faith take so much convincing?
But it is because we are smarter than we often credit ourselves: our
actions speak louder than our own words. No one who truly believes in
God could be tempted. Temptation is nothing more than the realization
that no one is really watching, and no one really gives a damn anyway!

> Once I wasn't, Then I was, Now I ain't again.
>
> - Epitaph found on tombstone in Ohio graveyard

Whatever is the point of a tombstone...I like what the Tibetans do, a
"sky burial" where they feed the corpse to vultures.

> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman]

NYC XYZ wrote:
>
> Whatever is the point of a tombstone...I like what the Tibetans do, a
> "sky burial" where they feed the corpse to vultures.

How about: <http://www.nationalby-products.com/>?

--
Tom Sherman - Here, not there.

 

[Edward Dolan]

"NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>>
>>
>> Trust me on this, you are as doomed as any creature who has ever lived on
>> this earth. Your 35 year old hope will soon appear absurd to you and you
>> will despair of life as all wise beings eventually do. Thus spake
>> Zarathustra.
>
> Whatever are you talking about? The whole point is moot since
> immortality is impossible right now, particularly the "non-corrupting"
> sort I stipulate.

But it is not impossible in the mind of most folks. They want to believe in
immortality despite the kind of culture we are presently living in. Religion
is part and parcel of mankind even if you and I reject it. The fact is, we
are going against our own human natures to reject it. Men are profoundly
religious creatures.

>> Yup ... me too. The fact is that almost everyone who lives in an advanced
>> industrial society is an atheist whether they admit it to themselves or
>> not.
>> Stardust to stardust - it does not ever get any better than that.
>
> Oh, people have long been atheists...if "God" was so self-evident, as
> all the theists proclaim, then why does faith take so much convincing?
> But it is because we are smarter than we often credit ourselves: our
> actions speak louder than our own words. No one who truly believes in
> God could be tempted. Temptation is nothing more than the realization
> that no one is really watching, and no one really gives a damn anyway!

The fear of God is rooted in the knowledge of death. Or to put it another
way, the beginning of all wisdom is rooted in the fear of death. This is why
children cannot ever be wise. Only adults can be wise and, usually, the
older you are, the wiser you are.

>> Once I wasn't, Then I was, Now I ain't again.
>>
>> - Epitaph found on tombstone in Ohio graveyard
>
> Whatever is the point of a tombstone...I like what the Tibetans do, a
> "sky burial" where they feed the corpse to vultures.

Nonetheless, does not the above quotation, only nine words, sum up an awful
lot of wisdom.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

 

[NYC XYZ]

Edward Dolan wrote:
>
>
> But it is not impossible in the mind of most folks. They want to believe in
> immortality despite the kind of culture we are presently living in. Religion
> is part and parcel of mankind even if you and I reject it. The fact is, we
> are going against our own human natures to reject it. Men are profoundly
> religious creatures.

"Religion" was something else to the ancient Romans, still something
else to Medeval Europe, something still different to many of us in the
modern world. That we feel insecure and crave the refuge of permanance
isn't what I was talking about. I simply wanted to say what I'd do
with eternity, given the conditions outlined. But, it may somehow be,
as von Herder wrote, that "we measure our heavy steps in time and
space, and are, unawares, in eternity."

> The fear of God is rooted in the knowledge of death. Or to put it another
> way, the beginning of all wisdom is rooted in the fear of death. This is why
> children cannot ever be wise. Only adults can be wise and, usually, the
> older you are, the wiser you are.

Words are misleading. The "wise" are the most untrustworthy. Great
sex makes a mockery of all philosophy.

> Nonetheless, does not the above quotation, only nine words, sum up an awful
> lot of wisdom.

So how would you pen RCN's?

> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota