The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

gramophoneshane wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:10 am A new topic for each machine/number.

Originally the idea was that once a week, someone would post a featured phonograph, then after a couple weeks a link was placed in the archives under the appropriate subheading Edison, Victor, HMV, Columbia, miscellaneous etc, so the machine and comments for each thread was easy to find for future reference.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16253

I am curious. You say that “ Originally the idea was that once a week, someone would post a featured phonograph, then after a couple weeks a link was placed in the archives”.

Basically, how could that be controlled? What happened if more than one appeared in a week?

Normally whoever posted first got the spot, but sometimes we'd have 2 featured phonographs the same day, and other times nobody would post one.
So there was never any rule saying you could only have one a week.
I guess realistically you could have one every day provided there was enough people willing to contribute.

But before this forum was even around, the featured phonograph format was part of the Old Time Victrola Music Message Board, that unfortunately got closed down and lost to cyberspace, which is why this forum was originally created.
From memory, the OTV had a designated night (I think Sundays?) When featured phonos were supposed to be posted on a first in first served basis, but we never had a particular designated night here.

gramophoneshane wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 11:27 am Normally whoever posted first got the spot, but sometimes we'd have 2 featured phonographs the same day, and other times nobody would post one.
So there was never any rule saying you could only have one a week.
I guess realistically you could have one every day provided there was enough people willing to contribute.

But before this forum was even around, the featured phonograph format was part of the Old Time Victrola Music Message Board, that unfortunately got closed down and lost to cyberspace, which is why this forum was originally created.
From memory, the OTV had a designated night (I think Sundays?) When featured phonos were supposed to be posted on a first in first served basis, but we never had a particular designated night here.

Thank you for the clarification. I do miss being able to see beloved phonographs as they are displayed.

I am the one who puts the links in the Archives section, that's the extent of admin rights I have. And that's just it, the Featured Phonographs posts in the Archives section contain links to the original posts to make it easier to find them. So the Archives are neither a safeguard/backup nor a separate folder. Since most of the older pictures disappeared, most of the Featured Phonograph posts and links are close to useless. I am quite frustrated about this, because I spent a lot of time tending to these Featured Phonograph posts. Because of that, I have not spent any more time on adding to the Feature Phonograph posts and I apologize for that. Once the older pictures have been restored, I will continue my work on the Archives but for now I don't see the point in putting in the work.

Andreas

alang wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 9:19 am I am the one who puts the links in the Archives section, that's the extent of admin rights I have. And that's just it, the Featured Phonographs posts in the Archives section contain links to the original posts to make it easier to find them. So the Archives are neither a safeguard/backup nor a separate folder. Since most of the older pictures disappeared, most of the Featured Phonograph posts and links are close to useless. I am quite frustrated about this, because I spent a lot of time tending to these Featured Phonograph posts. Because of that, I have not spent any more time on adding to the Feature Phonograph posts and I apologize for that. Once the older pictures have been restored, I will continue my work on the Archives but for now I don't see the point in putting in the work.

Andreas

That’s understandable and I thank you for your work. It’s a shame that so much valuable reference material was lost along with the pictures, (not just the archives, but forum wide).

alang wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 9:19 am I am the one who puts the links in the Archives section, that's the extent of admin rights I have. And that's just it, the Featured Phonographs posts in the Archives section contain links to the original posts to make it easier to find them. So the Archives are neither a safeguard/backup nor a separate folder. Since most of the older pictures disappeared, most of the Featured Phonograph posts and links are close to useless. I am quite frustrated about this, because I spent a lot of time tending to these Featured Phonograph posts. Because of that, I have not spent any more time on adding to the Feature Phonograph posts and I apologize for that. Once the older pictures have been restored, I will continue my work on the Archives but for now I don't see the point in putting in the work.

Andreas

Andreas, I've always appreciated your dedication to our once incredible forum, and appreciate your candor now. I also miss Brandon, and wish things had gone in a positive direction in regard to the breakdown between the owner and admin, and the membership.

I hope for some resolution to what has happened here over the last year - and also hope I'm not the recipient of a stern rebuke. It seems we've all been left out in the cold.

Respectfully,
Fran

fran604g wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 5:59 am
I hope for some resolution to what has happened here over the last year - and also hope I'm not the recipient of a stern rebuke. It seems we've all been left out in the cold.

Respectfully,
Fran

I feel the same as Fran. This forum hangs on a fine thread. Being a member of various now-defunct discussion groups on the same theme, gramophones and old records, I accumulated the frustration of losing relevant information and even losing my own time to post more elaborated pieces of information or research when these media simply disappeared with no warning, and all that was deposited there was lost forever. Since a long time I treat this and the other discussion groups I participate as ephemerous: when I see some material that interests me, I download it, but otherwise I just assume that it may be gone the next time I log in. A discussion group sponsored and maintained by a established organization, like the one sponsored by the APS, is likely much more robust and perennial, however most people, myself included, tend to behave like pack animals, and stay in the pasture we have been frequenting since many years and only move away when it is gone. The writing however is on the wall since some time: absence of ownership, lack of management, disappearance of old information, unclear payment process to the hosting entity etc