[aprssig] Future for aprs

[Scott Miller]

> Frustrated by the constant bombardment of emails from people who just can't get it together.
> Maybe I joined the wrong mail lists ?

Not everyone here lives and breathes APRS.  Some folks have other 
hobbies.  I'm not a very active paraglider pilot, but I'm on the local 
soaring association mailing list and I would hope that no one would give 
me a hard time for not being out there flying every weekend, not knowing 
the ins and outs of each site, and needing help repacking my reserve. 
You can't be an expert in everything.

> Every aprs kit I ever built for myself or others has worked perfectly

Then you're lucky.  I've been building these things for 9 years (not 
counting the Mic-E days and KPC-3 experiments) and I still find new ways 
for them to fail.  I've got boards in my rework bin that I've finally 
just given up on because there's some subtle fault that I can't find.

> When do we break away from being just users to experimenters

That's up to you.  Again, not everyone can be an expert, and not 
everyone *wants* to be an expert in a given field - some people just 
want to get a job done.

> Has the pioneering dream died In ham radio ?

Nope, but the demographics are shifting and the focus is changing. 
That's inevitable.  The Internet, commercial satellites, and cheap cell 
phones have changed our priorities.  Increasingly complex underlying 
technologies increase barriers to entry for hobbyists.

> Have we just become a smart few followed by the mass of consumers ?

I've been hearing complaints about appliance operators since I got 
licensed a quarter century ago, and it was an old story then.

Scott
N1VG