Hi All,  Robbie Rhodes writes in a comment to Jay Breen's latest
posting (which I loudly applaud):

>[ Jody and I want to make MMD available to all.  We are discussing
>[ various gentle "incentives to contribute" which, e.g., would allow
>[ contributors to access all MMD web pages, while others could not
>[ access the most recent 14 days of MMD, etc.  -- Robbie

What this sounds like is a password protected Archive for the 'most
recent issue'.  Anything that is current (less than 14 days old) will
not be accessible without a password.  While this is certainly
possible, it seems like over-kill to me.

Anyone in industry knows what it's like to be 'out of the loop'.  And
since the MMD is typically a series of exchanges between various
individuals, being just a few days 'out of the loop' would probably
suffice.

I'd suggest avoiding all the work and just delaying the posting of the
articles to the Archive for 2-3 days, make non-paying individuals wait
a couple of days.

As I stated in my initial posting, I only advocate charging for *home
delivery* [via email].  I think that handling the 'financial support'
issue in any other way will ultimately detract from the content and
the quality of the MMD.

I do a fair amount of web surfing.  I like researching things that
interest me.  Many times I've encountered websites that have a wealth
of information to which I am not privy until I become a member.

Sometimes becoming a member is as easy as filling out a form in which
I give the owners of the site my name, address, email address and phone
number.  (It's no surprise that after submitting such forms I usually
get a series of email advertisements.)  In some cases, I'm asked to pay
a small fee to access the information and the only option I have is to
pay by credit card.

I want to say this as loudly as possible!  No matter how valuable the
site owners 'think' their information is, I have never paid a fee to
access that information.  I simply go back to the search index and look
a little deeper, and in the vast majority of instances, I have found
the information I want at some other website, and I didn't have to pay
a dime.

For many people, the true value of the MMD is getting answers to
questions in a day or two.  Those of us who make our living working on
mechanical musical devices typically can't 'afford' to wait a week or
longer for an answer.  We need it now, and we're willing to pay what
amounts to about $0.10/day.

Here's something the editors might want to consider.  Quite often,
newcomers to the MMD are looking for specific help because they are
knee-deep in a rebuilding project and find themselves stuck.  If they
could get home delivery for $10.00/three months, they could get the
'personal' help they need without making a 'long-term' obligation.

In closing, ALL of the above considerations could be completely avoided
if people would simply send The Foxtail Group a little money so that
Jody and Robbie don't have to spend their own money.  If 'we' all did
this, I don't think we'd be having this conversation now.

Just an opinion,

John A. Tuttle

 [ Those are good suggestions, John.  Thanks!  -- Robbie