Paul FConvincing your loyal customers to replace their high-end unit with an upgraded (and ever more expensive) model every two years is fine until 1. Money is tight globally, and/or 2. Your competitors start to offer similar products at lower costs.
Personally I never bought into the whole “Apple” spin and hype, my mobile phone is a tool, not a fashion accessory, so long as it makes and receives a call that’s enough for me, and working in a science/techhy background, IBM clone PC’s do the job at a fraction of the costs of a Mac (even with the need to reboot windows frequently :rolleyes: ) .
If Apple’s bubble bursts, some may think it’s not before time, some saw Jobs as an inspirational demi-god, others saw him as nothign more than a clever marketeer…..:diablo:
No doubt if Aple does slip up, then many will feel it’s all down to the loss of Job’s ‘visionary’ style. I’d see it as inevitable ‘maturing’ of their market in a tough economic climate.
Paul FTalking of which -has the Lancaster ever been photographed since that last image of it leaving North Weald on it’s way to Kermit?
I have photos of the ISO containers that I was told it is then still sitting in at Fantasy of Flight in 2005/2007. No proof that they did still contain the Lanc though….
Paul FHow does it feel to be the harbinger of doom?
“Harbinger of Doom”? Surely not, isn’t he one of the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse….
Paul FHow does it feel to be the harbinger of doom?
“Harbinger of Doom”? Surely not, isn’t he one of the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse….
Paul FThe return of the Three Wise Men….
Welcome back one and all, we missed you.
It’s good to know we have your collective expertise back on line…
Just be careful you don’t go digging yourselves into any more deep holes ;).
Paul F
P.S. Once again, many thanks to the Mods for a job well done during the recent “uncertainty”..
Paul FI’m surprised we aren’t all tripping over all these odds and ends…:diablo:
And the odds of sticking a spade into the ground anywhere on this “Sceptered Isle”and not hitting a buried Canadian pine packing crate now seems very small indeed…
Who needs to head off to the Far East when we in UK are all seemingly standing right on top of this lot? :dev2:
:rolleyes:
Paul FA message for: 1. The Mods, 2. The “Accused”, 3. Key Publishing
Didn’t log on Friday afternoon or over the weekend, so missed all this as it unfolded – just got up to speed by reading the thread 🙁
1. Mods – Well done on trying to keep things open and to clarify (so far as you could) the reasons behind the decisions on Friday. Whatever others think I think you deserved (and largely received) the support of forum members, and I suspect you all felt you had been backed into a corner not of your own making.
2. Tangmere1940, Mark 12 and Charlie Hunt – I have exchanged comments with all three of you at various times and on various threads or by PM. I value the factual content, the considered opinion and debate, and the “banter”.
I would fully understand if you chose never to return, but I feel the Forum would be a far less interesting and knowledgable place without access to your expertise and thoughts.
I hope you would consider returning when the bans are lifted. Hopefully the strength of support shown over the weekend confirms you are all much-valued members, who have been treated very harshly, and without being given the opportunity to publicly answer the accusations made.
3. Key Publishing – I have no doubt your representative felt he/she had no choice but to take the action in response to a stern challenge by an assertive third party. Hopefully after an opportunity to review/discuss with lawyers you can lift the ban from the three users even if threads cannot be reinstated. You risk losing two valued and respected “experts” in Historic Aviation, and I suspect a fair few forum members may well choose to take their forum activity elsewhere – simply to continue to benefit from the expertise Messrs Saunders and Arnold offer.
And, please, please, please can you review your policies and procedures on “policing” the Forum, and also review and update the Forum Terms and Conditions in the light of this debacle.
Paul F
Paul FBy sending me a shed load of money,that is how these things work!:D
All such sheds to be made of Canadian Pine of course, and constructed such that bore holes can be made to check the contents are as expected…?
Aged, well-weathered and preferably waterlogged Canadian pine is preferred, apparently large stocks can be found close to a certain airport runway… bring your own shovel (and/or spade?)…
Paul FBut what if the Mayan’s misinterpreted the “Signs” !
Okay, so no planet heading for us in three weeks time, coz NASA haven’t seen it yet…note their qualifying “nothing that we know of…” get out clause…they haven’t been totally definitive that it won’t happen have they? 😮
Maybe the Mayans mis-interpreted their runes, their horoscopes, or just misread their cocoa-leaf dregs….
Maybe its a giant mutant space goat that’s coming our way (apologies to Hitchhikers’ fans)…
Or a cloud of invisible dark matter….
Or an economic disaster (sort of Mega Black Monday) scenario…
Or a global power cut…..
So, just how many people have written to NASA about their beleif in imminent doom, seeking NASA’s advice or reassurance? And were those people all from USA by any chance, as my first hand experience does suggest there are a fair number of Amercians that cannot “see” or undersand anything beyond the border, and for whom common sense and the ability to question whatever one reads on the interweb or in the media seem a step too far…. :rolleyes:. Apologies to many of our US correspondents who I have just offended (no doubt you see simialr traits in a number of my fellow Brits too :D)…
Or is it just NASA spotting an opportunity to raise their profile ahead of US budget decisions :diablo:
Paul FBut what if the Mayan’s misinterpreted the “Signs” !
Okay, so no planet heading for us in three weeks time, coz NASA haven’t seen it yet…note their qualifying “nothing that we know of…” get out clause…they haven’t been totally definitive that it won’t happen have they? 😮
Maybe the Mayans mis-interpreted their runes, their horoscopes, or just misread their cocoa-leaf dregs….
Maybe its a giant mutant space goat that’s coming our way (apologies to Hitchhikers’ fans)…
Or a cloud of invisible dark matter….
Or an economic disaster (sort of Mega Black Monday) scenario…
Or a global power cut…..
So, just how many people have written to NASA about their beleif in imminent doom, seeking NASA’s advice or reassurance? And were those people all from USA by any chance, as my first hand experience does suggest there are a fair number of Amercians that cannot “see” or undersand anything beyond the border, and for whom common sense and the ability to question whatever one reads on the interweb or in the media seem a step too far…. :rolleyes:. Apologies to many of our US correspondents who I have just offended (no doubt you see simialr traits in a number of my fellow Brits too :D)…
Or is it just NASA spotting an opportunity to raise their profile ahead of US budget decisions :diablo:
Paul FAndy, thanks for confirming that, I’ll use it in my press release… your spade, that is, not your statement….
As you say you used it to dig the hole, perhaps I can find 8 witnesses who looked into it…
Paul FAndy,
Is that spade the one with the Canadian Pine handle by any chance, the press release didn’t seem to confirm it, but I am sure someone spoke to someone who said it was…..?
Paul FIIRC B&W Newsreel footage can be found on Youtube if you want to see it……
But I cannot confirm if this accident was the very FIRST attempt to land an operational Scimitar on deck, or just one of the first…
No doubt others on here will know.
Paul Fto get back on thread track….
A fair few posters (postees?) have suggested that in the past “common sense” and “religion” have largely kept society on the straight and narrow, whereby “self gratification” and “putting oneself first” have not been seen as desirable social traits.
The problem as I see it is that “common sense” is now largely driven by what many see in the popular media, where “I want and must have it all now”, “it’s every man for himself” and “celebrity = instant wealth and fame” have taken over from “you have to work (hard) first to obtain what you want” and “think of others first”
Add in the fact that UK society is now seeing the first generation of those that subscribe to the materialistic “celebrity culture” start to produce offspring who have only known this “it’s all about me, me, me” mentality, and the notion of doing anything for the benefit of the wider society at any expense to your own personal gain now holds very little sway with many.
And, with the decrease attendance at “churches” of many denominations, this too means few people ever hear the “put others first, “do as you would be done by” messages most christian faiths offer. (And no, I am not going to get into the argument as to whether religion is right or wrong, necessary or unnecessary – I have my own views on that) Right or wrong, few can argue that a few generations ago, a far higher percentage of the UK population attended ‘church’, and so would have consciously or sub-consciously heard that sort of moral teaching.
So, a lack of widespread moral teaching from “christian religions”, plus an ever-growing “materialistic” lifestyle portrayed as “desirable” in the media, can surely only lead to an ever more self-centred society?
Greedy bankers, benefit fraud, “we’ll sell you your dream lifestyle” ads, easy credit, a reliance on second hand “gossip” rather than personal experience of things, these all add further to the belief that one deserves “it” all, right here, right now, without having to work too hard for “it”.
Add in the loss of values such as “self control”, “team work” and “respect for others” etc that national/military service would also have instilled in a large percentage of the population, and the slippery slope becomes well greased too….
In short, yes, I do think UK society needs to take stock, develop a respect for others, and learn that instant gratification and a celebrity-lifestyle for all without a thought for the long term consequence, is simply not sustainable….
Personally I/we live by “if we cannot afford it we simply don’t buy it” (with exception of our house where bought within a price range that meant we have always had a mortgage we could afford), “if we want it we save for it”, and “we don’t need to wear, eat, drive designer labels”. We don’t go on flash holidays, or buy things we cannot afford, nor do we change the car and TV every few years just to keep up with the Jones’s.
We make do and mend, we look out for our families and our neighbours, and we don’t aspire to fame and fortune…. We have, and continue to be prepared to, work (hard) for a decent standard of living.
Are we at odds with modern UK society – definitely, but at least we are happy with our lot, and don’t owe anybody anything :).
And no, neither of us came from “well off” families – we are both children of firmly working class parents who had reasonably good ‘moral compasses’ based on christian values (note the lower case “c”) , and we have tried our best to pass the same moral values on to our offspring.
Whether they now choose to follow the same values themselves as adults, or choose to subscribe to many of their peers’ views that “wealth is everything you need and desire” is now their choice … at least we feel we have done our best for them, and have not succumbed to the blatantly materialistic values that we believe are doing so much damage to UK society.
Paul F
(P.S. This probably comes across as if we feel smug and morally “superior” to those who do not share our values, which is definitely not the case… sometimes we do wonder if we should simply have “gone with the flow” and not worried about being able to pay the bills each month..?)
Paul Fto get back on thread track….
A fair few posters (postees?) have suggested that in the past “common sense” and “religion” have largely kept society on the straight and narrow, whereby “self gratification” and “putting oneself first” have not been seen as desirable social traits.
The problem as I see it is that “common sense” is now largely driven by what many see in the popular media, where “I want and must have it all now”, “it’s every man for himself” and “celebrity = instant wealth and fame” have taken over from “you have to work (hard) first to obtain what you want” and “think of others first”
Add in the fact that UK society is now seeing the first generation of those that subscribe to the materialistic “celebrity culture” start to produce offspring who have only known this “it’s all about me, me, me” mentality, and the notion of doing anything for the benefit of the wider society at any expense to your own personal gain now holds very little sway with many.
And, with the decrease attendance at “churches” of many denominations, this too means few people ever hear the “put others first, “do as you would be done by” messages most christian faiths offer. (And no, I am not going to get into the argument as to whether religion is right or wrong, necessary or unnecessary – I have my own views on that) Right or wrong, few can argue that a few generations ago, a far higher percentage of the UK population attended ‘church’, and so would have consciously or sub-consciously heard that sort of moral teaching.
So, a lack of widespread moral teaching from “christian religions”, plus an ever-growing “materialistic” lifestyle portrayed as “desirable” in the media, can surely only lead to an ever more self-centred society?
Greedy bankers, benefit fraud, “we’ll sell you your dream lifestyle” ads, easy credit, a reliance on second hand “gossip” rather than personal experience of things, these all add further to the belief that one deserves “it” all, right here, right now, without having to work too hard for “it”.
Add in the loss of values such as “self control”, “team work” and “respect for others” etc that national/military service would also have instilled in a large percentage of the population, and the slippery slope becomes well greased too….
In short, yes, I do think UK society needs to take stock, develop a respect for others, and learn that instant gratification and a celebrity-lifestyle for all without a thought for the long term consequence, is simply not sustainable….
Personally I/we live by “if we cannot afford it we simply don’t buy it” (with exception of our house where bought within a price range that meant we have always had a mortgage we could afford), “if we want it we save for it”, and “we don’t need to wear, eat, drive designer labels”. We don’t go on flash holidays, or buy things we cannot afford, nor do we change the car and TV every few years just to keep up with the Jones’s.
We make do and mend, we look out for our families and our neighbours, and we don’t aspire to fame and fortune…. We have, and continue to be prepared to, work (hard) for a decent standard of living.
Are we at odds with modern UK society – definitely, but at least we are happy with our lot, and don’t owe anybody anything :).
And no, neither of us came from “well off” families – we are both children of firmly working class parents who had reasonably good ‘moral compasses’ based on christian values (note the lower case “c”) , and we have tried our best to pass the same moral values on to our offspring.
Whether they now choose to follow the same values themselves as adults, or choose to subscribe to many of their peers’ views that “wealth is everything you need and desire” is now their choice … at least we feel we have done our best for them, and have not succumbed to the blatantly materialistic values that we believe are doing so much damage to UK society.
Paul F
(P.S. This probably comes across as if we feel smug and morally “superior” to those who do not share our values, which is definitely not the case… sometimes we do wonder if we should simply have “gone with the flow” and not worried about being able to pay the bills each month..?)
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