Harold, check pm.

Greetings fellow members,

Here are a few musings from a comparatively new member with only 16 posts. Although Barthmobile.com is not the first or only site or forum which I have been a member; Classic Boats & Classic Cars for example, but this forum has become by far and away, my favorite, as I visit it several times each day. It might be the eclectic nature of this forum that keeps it fresh; technical info one hour then humorous anecdotes, travel chronicles, occasional disappointments, & unfortunately outright tragedy. Reading this site makes me feel like I am a member of an extended family I haven't met yet & if so, you can pretend I am the crazy uncle. Moreover, the active members are an impressive group, seemingly accomplished in their professions, away from the RV life with a wealth of both RV & life experiences from which to draw.

However, I share Harold's curiosity about the financial responsibility. Possibly, I am a bit more sensitive regarding costs due to the fact that my wife & I have been self-employed for 44 years. I have not donated to this site yet mostly because I don't know what is needed or expected. In our line of work, for example, $75.00 oftentimes will not be enough to purchase a quart of paint. Therefore I was pondering...would it be possible to establish levels of support? This site counts, grades, & seemingly rewards the number of posts ie I am still a 2 & need 10 more posts to be a 3. How about we consider doing the same for the monetary donations. The following is all hypothetical & not meant at this point to be taken literally. For example, if you donate $500.00 you are not just a supporting member(but a diamond life-time member), $250.00, a gold medallion member, $100.00, a silver coin member, etc. These figures may be adjusted up or down?. Moreover, a yearly set amount, like dues, would be reasonable. At our business, we pay annually for our website, web security, Yellow Pages, & for our online newspaper, & I spend more time on Barthmobile.com presently for free.

I really want the Barth site & the Barth products to succeed & carry on. Please, if someone could give me an idea how much is(or isn't) needed & what I & other like-minded members should contribute, I sure would appreciate it.

Thanks,

John

Excellent feedback, folks!

Good to hear that many regular users are fairly happy with the status of the site, with good technical info mixed with social reports of group activities also. A nice neighborhood in general.

Already some consensus on difficulties posting pictures, and provisions for site support...

There is considerable history involved with both of these topics. Both have impacts on site operation cost. As for pictures, I have been more successful than most, with over 1000 photos on this site. It has however become more difficult since PhotoBucket went flaky.

Site support for our gracious host Bill NY is another ongoing issue. He has never been one to solicit funding, as such he may not be getting what he needs. I have sent him $50 each January but I don't know what the site costs or how much he receives in donations. He has been extremely busy with his business for some time and I hate to burden him with this site, too.

I will start separate threads soon for each of these topics. They both have site history, which I will attempt to summarize. We can discuss pros and cons of alternative options.

Keep up the feedback! I will try to follow up on what we get here. I am looking forward to the site's future. As several have said, it is not the coaches that make this site special as much as the people who use it.

We've been members since 2004 I think. This site is the reason we bought a Barth. Easy posting of pictures is the only thing that I think is needed. Based of FB postings, there are a lot of younger people out there that own Barths, but they are used to being able to post pictures easily and that's what they want. You know the saying, 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. Both the data tag project and the map the Barth project are nice but even I very seldom use them. Keep it simple. The site is easy to navigate, useful, informative. All we need to know is how much it costs to keep it going, including the cost of being able to post pictures easily and so much money would roll in that Bill would probably have to invest the excess. This is a generous group. When people know what is needed, they respond
Jim

After seeing post on Barth campground I decided to go FB. I am old sole and for the most stay away from FB. Joined Barth group to find there a several people that use it. There were several coaches for sale. A world of Barth owners that i did not know exist.

quote:

A world of Barth owners that i did not know exist.

Why aren't they part of Barthmobile?

quote:

Why aren't they part of Barthmobile?

Probably because website forums are old-school and Facebook is more convenient (some think too convenient), and most folks are on Facebook every day anyway. Barthmobile gets mentioned occasionally on the Facebook site so folks do know about us. They probably wonder why we are not in their Facebook group.

BTW, the younger set think that Facebook is old-school.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:

quote:

A world of Barth owners that i did not know exist.

Why aren't they part of Barthmobile?

You bring up a good question. In the world of instant gratification. Facebook brings that. If you post a picture EASY! No linking, no sizing, no side down or wrong orientation. Few people use a camera anymore. Everything is done on our phones.

Also most folks these days are notified of anything they find interesting on their social media. They are communicating and socializing on there anyway simple to follow Barth on there.

You can get “Likes”, “Loves” from folks you’ve never meet. Instant gratification!

I don’t need to get sucked down that rabbit hole that can consume all your day. I have unfollowed even my friends. If I want to know what they are up to I can search and see.

Some are paranoid and worry because it tracks you. It absolutely tracks what you do. I have been downsizing and getting rid of stuff on marketplace. I also buy. Anytime I look at anything other items like it start showing up.

Jim or Tere hope that my 2 cents and gripes added a little insight to that monster called Facebook! Look at the crap TicToc caused this week with schools. We all have to be cautious the monsters don’t eat us.

I am pleased with Barthmobile! I stay away from those other intrusive sites the best I can. Here you get only what I want you to know .I think I am not targeted or tracked by Barthmobile.

I use both fb and this site. The Facebook thing has its place. It DOES offer instant gratification and ease in posting pictures. But the knowledge that is dispensed on this forum and this type of forums in general are so much more in depth and easily accessible than one would find on fb.
I've got several groups I'm members of that use both sites in conjunction.
Personally I prefer this type of forum to fb even if
I do need an extra step to post a picture

Dana, I agree. One Barth site is enough for me.

Fifty years ago our family had the black and white "kid's TV" in my bedroom. (My bedroom was closest to the roof antenna wire)

I very rarely turned the set on, usually had other things more interesting to do. However, on numerous occasions, I walked in while one of my sisters was watching. Often, without planning to, I would spend the next half hour to hour watching television. I quickly realized the thing could drag you in and use up your time even when you didn't plan it.

I feel the same way about computers today. A few minutes a day is plenty.

I also have a personal pet peeve with companies that offer "free" services and yet make billions a year with ads and from mining my user data, and don't monitor/fact check their user sites.

Between my skepticism and my lack of interest in computers in general, one Barth site is plenty for me. I like Barths and the folks that own them. I enjoy this site and I hope to help it stay running for us all.

No problem with the Barth Facebook crowd. If that suits them, so be it. They are always welcome here and will get advice and technical help here if they ask for it. It's what we do....

As for photos, it really isn't hard to attach them here. The problem is that nobody uses cameras any more and they don't know how to resize a photo on their phone. Once you have a resized photo, you're about two clicks away to attach it. That said, most can't/won't bother to resize and we lose photos and users too. I would like to see our attachment process resize and orient photos automatically.

Thanks to all for the continued feedback. Good food for thought and possible adjustments.

Dana, Steve, and others, I am right with you about FB and other social media sites. I signed up for FB over 15 years ago, and after a few months of seeing the horrible things some would say about others and people they don't even know, I got off it have stayed off. Call me what you want, but social media is insidious and that's the nicest thing I could say about it.
What I am suggesting is in my previous post. Plus those that are in the Barth FB group can continue to point that group to a real web site--Barthmobile
Jim

I don't use a desktop to access the forum . I recently downloaded a picture resizing app on my tablet and became familiar with downsizing pictures , even successfully made my avatar
I do intend to post a few pictures of repairs , upgrades and adventures . Also we are more than happy to help support the site financially .
We've been on the Wanderlodge Owner's Group forum for over seven years and have learned , shared and made lifelong friends . We no longer have a bird , but still enjoy the rallies and fellowship . We hope to have the same experiences here. I have motorhome experience back to 2012 and our first Cummins diesel pusher was in 2013 . My mechanical experience started over 40 years ago growing up next to a small auto repair shop where I started working at in elementary school and continued through high school .I worked as a mechanic for another 10 years was well as becoming a career Firefighter EMT . Just an example of one member on here . There are members of all backgrounds willing to share knowledge and help each other . That is what makes this forum and others like it so invaluable and like extended family . We don't use Facebook either , nothing against anyone who does .
Thank you to everyone who makes this site a reality .

Happy Motoring

Resized by an old dog.

quote:

Originally posted by Pirate19:
Resized by an old dog.

(Where's the picture I just posted )