Posted by turtle at user-2ive1rr.dialup.mindspring.com on January 18, 2000 at 18:42:15:
In Reply to: What's wrong with "The Other Board" why not use... posted by Walt Flanagan's Dog on January 18, 2000 at 17:10:06:
For several reasons:
1. This one lets you see immediately if there has been a response to your post. The UBB board only tells you if there was a response somewhere in the thread.
2. On the UBB boards you have to load (and scan through) EVERY single post in it's entirety each time you want to read something in a thread. Even on fast connection speeds this can sometimes take a couple of minutes, just to read one post.
3. This one is simple and straightforward, what you see is what you get. The UBB format is very scattered and non-linear, it's difficult to find a post again after you've posted it.
4. You can't really reply to a post within a thread on the UBB board. When you try it gets put all the way down at the bottom of all the posts in the thread, and it's often confusing to try to figure out who is talking to whom.
5. The UBB doesn't allow for *No Text* replies, which are useful for quick answers.
6. Kevin likes this one.
The only benefit I see (on the user's end) to the UBB format is that it allows you to read a whole thread all at once. This is good if you only visit the board once in a while. But since many of us (and, most importantly, Kevin and the other Men in Red) often use the board on a daily basis, it's counterproductive. This way you get to see who's posting, and have a general idea of what they are talking about, without reading absolutely every post.
There, does that answer your question?
Oh, and the Otherboard USED to have this kind of format. And it was beautiful. But then the board gods came down and smote the place. Heh. Apparently people had been complaining that it was, um, I can't even remember what the hell they were complaining about actually, but the format was changed to the UBB one in the hopes that it would keep this board free of off-topic stuff. Heh heh. (And, in the melee, a bunch of other non-official Otherboards sprung up. A couple of which are still lurking around, but that's an entirely different ball of turtle wax.)
-turtle
retired Queen of the Otherboard
(Or is that Scottieboy?)