On 1/6/2023 4:41 PM, Rick Womer wrote:
I wish there were more people actively participating here. Looking into the archives
at pdml.net <http://pdml.net/>, on this date ten years ago there were 63
messages. Yesterday there was one.
Rick
Go back 20 years and there were probably 200 posts.
When I joined the list in 1999 it was a vibrant and sometimes raucous
community that was focused on Pentax camera equipment and photography.
There was very little discussion outside of those subjects, and we had a
lot to say.
As a group, we have taken our eyes off the ball in that regard. There is
very little Pentax or photography discussion these days.
The introduction of new lenses passes most people by, it seems. When the
DFA* 50/1.4 was released in 2018, we barely murmured about it even
though it is among the best lenses in it's class. The same with the
DA*85/1.4 in 2020. This lens is the best 85mm lens available on the
market, but other than a couple of posts from people who have purchased
one, crickets.
Did anyone here actually notice the DFA21mm LTD that was released last
year?
How about the K3III? Does anyone here really give two fucks about it?
It's one of the best APS-C cameras on the market and probably will be
the last APS-C SLR that anyone will release for the next decade, and
then it will be another Pentax because no one else will be making SLRs
by then.
How about the updates to the 31, 43 and 77mm lenses that were introduced
last year? Did anyone here give enough of a fuck about it to start a
thread about them?
We are supposed to be about Pentax cameras and photography, but we talk
about neither for the most part.
The honest truth is that this list is no longer relevant for anyone
interested in Pentax or photography.
The world has moved on from email lists to online forums. Do a non
specific search for anything related to discussing Pentax cameras and
the PDML doesn't show up unless you type in Pentax discuss, and then
it's on page 2 of Google. In other words, you have to know this list
exists to find it.
Have we even had a new member join in the last 5 years and if so has
that person stuck around for more than a couple of posts?
We don't talk about what we are purportedly here to talk about, and what
we talk about is, to be kind, pretty mundane shit for the most part.
We've become comfortable with silence, and so have become silent.
For myself, I've pretty much moved on. I'm very active on PentaxForums.
I recently took on the task of Moderator over there.
I suspect I'm not alone in this (other than being crazy enough to want
to be a forum moderator). We've just gotten bored, have found other
things to do that mean more to us and concentrate our time on anything
but the PDML.
We have become a small closed door social club in the basement of a
burnt out building in a ghost town.
I want to talk about Pentax. I want to talk about photography, and when
I try to do it here I may as well be talking into a vacuum.
Sadly, the PDML has become boring and irrelevant, and that is reflected
in the activity shown on it.
bill
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