Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : The Death of Silicon Investor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Vendit™ who wrote (285)	12/18/2001 2:06:48 PM
From: Don Pueblo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1003

Is there a monthly fee amount that would be so high you would personally never pay?

To: Vendit™ who wrote (285)	12/20/2001 4:35:35 PM
From: (Bob) Zumbrunnen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1003

If you or others are paying any site for a membership or if you own a site that charges a membership fee…someone is getting fleeced IMO. Free is where it should be, content providers are key. If you know what you are doing you can make money investing as well as share your knowledge with-a-smile at NO_CHARGE So what you're saying is we need more altruistic, workaholic millionaires because they're the only ones who should run message boards. In your model, there simply are no message boards. Profitable or otherwise. Or, worse, lots of smalltime operations that can't afford to ever be big and never will be able to. Dozens of small communities all over the place, with no large gathering of people at any of them. To me, you need a LOT of people to make a site a success if you define success as having a site that attracts so many knowledgeable people that others can find every bit of knowledge they need. If you've only got the resources to host a few hundred people, the pool of "real talent" will be pretty small. Thousands of people, and that pool is larger, and the whole community benefits. Last I checked, servers, bandwidth, and live people with the talent to make it work don't grow from trees. Well, admins swing from trees, but that's irrelevant. FREE only works if the operator is rich, talented, and has way too much time on his hands. For any other site to survive, it must make money, be it from advertising, subscriptions, or some other stream. BTW, the "marketnoize" you copied from that header is not part of my quote. Your inclusion makes it look like I endorse MN. I don't specifically endorse any one site. Since you're quite clear on how not to do business in this venue, could you clarify how to do it correctly? Any ideas how a totally free site pays for hardware, bandwidth, and employees?

To: Vendit™ who wrote (285)	12/20/2001 4:42:52 PM
From: (Bob) Zumbrunnen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1003

BTW, what's my agenda? I have one, but it can't be ascertained from that quoted text. The reason I have posted to this thread is that I seriously believe SI is a "dead man walking". I think it's inevitable.

To: Vendit™ who wrote (285)	12/20/2001 7:51:06 PM
From: Phil(bullrider)	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1003

Vendit, For a website to survive, just like a TV station, there has to be revenue, or cash flow. Otherwise, like Bob said, there is no hardware nor people to man it. It costs real money to host a web site. This money has to come from subs or advertisers. A lot of people left SI because of a few silly ads. In my opinion, since there are so many ad blocking programs, that was like shooting ones' self in the foot. They left because of the ads, but took away the revenue from the non-subscribers reading the posts. In a perfect world, everything would be free. But the world is not perfect, and everyone must pay for the services they want. I pay for road repairs but don't pay for trash pickup. I take my trash to the landfill. I pay for cable internet access because I want it. I would pay for investment advice if I felt I needed it. I, like you, offer my opinions freely, but someone must pay for the privilege to read them. I feel I am rambling, So, Have fun, Phil