My pet peeve is that I liked the old reviews format. I would look at the most recent reviews to get info on interesting boats. Now, you need to be looking for a specific boat with no quick reference whether the reviews for that boat have been updated recently.
Maybe we old posters are just wore out.
@Ben said:
My pet peeve is that I liked the old reviews format. I would look at the most recent reviews to get info on interesting boats. Now, you need to be looking for a specific boat with no quick reference whether the reviews for that boat have been updated recently.
yes that was good
I only joined about a year ago, so not a longtimer. I like the new format of discussions much better than the old p.net. The discussions were difficult to follow on the old site and new conversations were buried in the middle of the post string. After a short learning curve, I can find everything I want on the new p.com without any trouble, and I’m not very computer savvy. I have no problem with it on my iPad. The only thing I’d like to see is a way to post new trip reports. It’s supposed to be in the works, but hasn’t appeared yet. I struggled with the reviews section, but now I can find stuff without too much trouble. I love being able to add photos.
The old classifieds and reviews were more organized and easier to use. The replies to posts could get lost in the strings. I would say the new message format with the ability to quote and post a relevant pic is superior.
I’ve been a member here for 10+ years. Sadly, IMHO, it has been going down hill. About the only thing I like about the new format is the abandonment of Bicker & Banter. I log on daily just to enter the contest (which I will never win) and only check the posts +/- weekly. Getting to be more like the magazines I no longer subscribe to: not enough useful info!
The forum I now frequent is actually growing (no ads).
@Ferboaten said:
Actually, kayaking IS good exercise, so I see no reason for a 300 pound person to wait to get started. There are plenty of good SOT kayaks that could accommodate someone in that weight range. Let’s try to be inclusive.
Let’s try not to be so politically correct and get a life: You are seriously deluded if you believe 300 lbs. is a healthy weight for ANYBODY (even taller athletes in the NFL are ordered to go on a diet when they hit this mark)to just take the plunge and start paddling for the “exercise”. And just because an SOT can “accommodate” them, doesn’t mean they should start using one without first starting a comprehensive diet/medical program to determine if they are physically fit enough to participate. Example? I once led a kayak day trip on the Hudson, where one participant insisted on bringing his friend who was around the aforesaid mentioned weight. I had grave safety reservations about letting the overweight guy come along, but his friend assured me he could cut it because he would indeed be using an SOT, and was only 19 years old. Reluctantly, I said okay. Well, did I learn an invaluable lesson that day! The 19-year old obese fellow exhausted himself fairly quickly, and there was a major concern by many in our group that the guy was either going to have a heart attack/stroke. (This was a lily-dipping recreational paddle mind you, none of the rest of us were really laying on the paddle at any kind of hard pace to keep up with.) Finally, things reached a point where I had to insist we all return to the put-in, so our obese(there’s that’s word again)participant could safely bail out. Upon arriving at the launch, the poor fellow couldn’t even stand-up to get out of his kayak! THREE of us tried to help him up and failed. I was on the verge of calling an ambulance before the guy finally got his breath, rolled over on to the rocky shore and very slowly got to his feet. My being “inclusive” that day almost cost him his life, as well as the safety of myself and the other well-meaning more physically-fit members of our group.
–But you just keep right on being an arbiter on behalf of sensitivity. 
I don’t facebook, I don’t tweet, I don’t text, I don’t do morse code either, which I equate to the low tech of texting. Prefer instead to read in paragraph form what people have to say. But the new pnet format keeps me away from here as much as I am on other more traditional forums.
I have already forgotten p.net although I sometimes briefly remember the guy in tje desert who couldn’t keep his name straight. I hope he didn’t check out when Trump was elected.
Guess I’m an “Old timer” since I started on P.net 2000 or 2001? I try to look here once a week. I have to budget for time because I have slow internet living here in the sticks, and all the pictures slow the loading time for me. Threads with “Pictures of…” are impossible for me to visit. And a link to a Vimeo video, forget it.
Also, the old forum format was easier on my old eyes. Seems like it is just so “Bright” now?
But let’s face it, the owners need to target a younger demographic to pay the bills; the younger, newer paddlers are the ones whom advertisers are targeting. It’s probably not good “Business” to target us old fogies that used to hang around P.net’s “Virtual campfire” here and tell stories and give advice?
Everything in life changes and evolves or it dies off. This website is no different. I miss the old format, but that’s life. I also miss my crotchety old grandma and many family and friends whom have passed on. But lamenting their departure won’t bring 'em back! So I’ll only be an infrequent visitor from now on, but I wish Brent and Brian the best and hope they have continued success with this website!
The website is slow with so many ads and pictures opening. And there are quite a few glitches. I could not access the message boards at all with Firefox until I deleted Firefox from my computer and reloaded it. And many seem to have gone missing. I suspect a handful will show up over time, but I suspect many have just decided that dealing with the new site is not worth the trouble.
But yes, I do understand the reasons behind the change.
@String said:
I have already forgotten p.net although I sometimes briefly remember the guy in tje desert who couldn’t keep his name straight. I hope he didn’t check out when Trump was elected.
Close, String, close…desertbivalvesupremeyakGary had a stroke. He’s over on the bicker forum I think, not sure, as I don’t hit that too often either. We were FB friends, but that didn’t last. Last I saw on FB he was more obstinate than ever.
Anyways, my first post since the new pnut…Hi Pete, Erik, Bob, Chip, Glenn, Andy yadayada…saw a post I had from 2005. Time flies. Don’t paddle like the lunatic I once was, on to other things past few years. Life’s a journey, it’s all good.
Younger demographic? I don’t see much evidence that paddling – other than whitewater kayaking – is populated by many people under 40.
When I look at all the clubs I’ve paddled with all over the U.S., I see mostly middle age to older folks in rec kayaks, SOT’s and some canoes. Freestyle symposiums are geriatric affairs. Raystown, I only went once, but I’m sure the average age was upwards of 45.
I always had the feeling the active crowd on the old pnet was over 50ish. Was there ever an age thread? I don’t recall. I did an age poll on another canoe site and, with about 100 responses, the median age is probably mid-to-high 50’s.
To ignore the AARP generation would be to lose the most active paddling segment and the one with the most disposable income. It’s also the most literate generation – able to communicate with eight more fingers and thousands of more words, and better punctuated, than the millennial anti-social media addicts. A discussion forum like this one will not appeal to that crowd. It needs the 45-85 year old paddlers not only for their communication skills, but for their reservoir of experience to give advice.
The algorithmic tyranny of social media has created a generation of uninformed, lemming thinking, tribalistically partisan, angry, intolerant, and illiberal young people. Social media is dividing our citizenry and destroying our culture. Maybe when they grow up and reach 40, they’ll take up paddling and contribute to a forum like the old pnet.
Rant paused . . . .
@Glenn MacGrady said:
Rant paused . . . .
No, Glenn! Don’t hold back–More! Tell us how you really feel!
Great post Glenn!
@Glenn MacGrady said:
The algorithmic tyranny of social media has created a generation of uninformed, lemming thinking, tribalistically partisan, angry, intolerant, and illiberal young people. >
I’m not sure what algorithmic tyranny is, but I really like the turn of phrase! And, I can’t argue with the conclusions, although they are not all illiberal as the many young 'uns attracted to Bernie Sanders demonstrated.
I long ago concluded we are an aging demographic. This I chalk up to older folks having more time and money for paddling. It’s a different challenge when your weekends consist of taking the kids to their sports events. And then you have folks like me that have less physical capability. I had to give up running events when the wheels went bad, but they are good enough to get me in the boat.
~~Chip
Stay tuned to this channel for the next episode of “Grumpy Old Men”.
I’m not grumpy, but will be 65 next week. Being old has its benefits. I’m retired, can do almost anything I want to, anytime. …Well, the wife has some input on that. I worked hard all my life and am reaping the fruits of that hard work. Have all the boat’s I want or need, have gear for year round paddling. I’m sitting right now in my other house, having a vodka martini. Wife is in the other house. Typing this on my smart phone. Life is good!
Well then, in the words of Herman Melville: Thou art too damned jolly.
@Andy_Szymczak said:
I’m not grumpy, but will be 65 next week. Being old has its benefits.
You’re off by nine years at least:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/old-age-does-not-begin-until-74-researchers-suggest-in-a-new-rep/