About the TMF

[Hogan]

I really liked the TMF! Until one day (years ago) I suddenly couldn't log in to the forum. First I thought it was a technical mishap - but after writing again and again to the moderator (at least 10 times over the years) and receiving no response whatsoever, I am more inclined to believe it is run by someone who erratically

excludes members for unknown reasons. I know I am one of many who can no longer participate - I will not name names , but some of the most knowledgeable people in the hobby can no longer participate. 

This, I find, is as big a problem as the loss of pictures and links. And I don't think it will be solved by donating - seeing as I myself was one of the donors -.

[phonogfp]

The decline of the TMF is a sad story in the history of our hobby.  

 

I was a very active contributor (as of this morning, 8367 posts) until the spring of 2020 when - after weeks of spotty performance - the site finally crashed and was out of service for several days.  It was at that point that this site - the APS Forum - was launched.  In an impressive display of technical expertise, the TMF admin resurrected the old site,,, but without the thousands of images and links which added so much to the old TMF.  There were promises of resurrecting the images too, but after six years, most of us have given up on that.  

 

Before the main crash in 2020, I often spent an hour or two pulling catalogs, taking pictures, and researching in order to provide comprehensive and accurate answers to questions posted on the TMF.  I no longer will devote that kind of time to a patched-up, marginally functional forum (sometimes it's so slow to load that I open additional windows to complete my online activities while waiting for each page of the TMF to open).  Based on the TMF's performance over the past few years, I don't expect significant improvement.  Perhaps the TMF simply cannot be fixed.  For whatever reason, it continues to malfunction on a regular basis.  I'm no longer waxing/detailing a vehicle that functions as if it's on its last legs. 

 

What truly puzzles me is why TMF members continue to put up with this when the APS Forum is here - consistently working properly with immediate admin responses, no pleas for monetary contributions, and long-term viability supported by a not-for-profit rather than a single disinterested admin.  I admit that I like the colors of the TMF pages better than those of the APS Forum (I've chosen the "Dark Theme" at the bottom of the screen).  But again, I'd rather invest my time/effort on this shiny, purring 6 year-old beige sedan than on a rusty, coughing, 17 year-old SUV.  

 

George P.

[RodPickett]

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[Valecnik]

 

1 hour ago, phonogfp said:

 

What truly puzzles me is why TMF members continue to put up with this when the APS Forum is here - consistently working properly with immediate admin responses, no pleas for monetary contributions, and long-term viability supported by a not-for-profit rather than a single disinterested admin. 

 

George P.

That puzzles me too.  My experience was similar, investing quite a lot of time over a period of years.  I'm quite happy  with the APS forum.  Response time should I have an issue is way better and there's a lot more resource dedicated to maintaining and growing it.  

[BruceW]

Hogan, do not feel that how you were treated on the TMF was personal.   I fell off the TMF years ago when I upgraded my computer.  I did not think much of the change as all I would need to do is sign in manually as my old computer would automatically sign on but for some reason the TMF refused to recognize me.  After a year or more of waiting for response from the moderator I tried with new email addresses but that did not work either.  Eventually the moderator sent me a new password which the system refused to recognize.  It was speculated that because I live in Canada the system had difficulty with my ip address, but a year later the TMF moderator responded saying that should not be an issue but did not resolve my issue.  

It has been so long that I have upgraded my computer a second time, moved twice (thus new ip addresses) and can not access my old email account.

 

So now I access the forum as a guest but cannot search or respond to others enquiries or items for sale.   I have supported this forum from the beginning hopping that it will be the replacement for the TMF but the for some reason it does not seem to be as popular with the online phonograph community, despite the litany of issues on the TMF.

 

Bruce

[BenL]

I need to keep my mouth shut... I’ve already stirred up enough trouble on the TMF. I just want to say it’s such a shame for younger collectors. Compared to a Facebook group, a forum takes a little more commitment to join, so you tend to find more serious collectors with better information. (That’s where I got my start when I was still a teen.)
 

The knowledge from people like Mr. Paul, and Brandon (a former moderator of the TMF) is one of the reasons I still enjoy this hobby and community... But the TMF keeps going downhill, and no matter how much people donate, it just keeps getting worse. Nearly all the information is gone or hardly accessible, either because of lost photos, broken links, or page crashes.  

Benjamin. 

Edited Saturday at 07:00 PM by BenL

[Hogan]

Bruce, maybe you're right - I have no way of knowing! As said I've tried many times to contact the moderator to no avail, tried starting a new account also (several times) but there has never once been a reply from him. There's no use in speculating -

As you say I can visit the forum as a guest, but not contribute or do searches, which is a bit limiting.

I've also tried some of the Facebook sites, but find that way of communicating too fragmentaric, it's as though speaking while running or something...

This forum is really nice, but for now it doesn't have the traffic of the other one - we'll see what happens I guess!!!

[Jerry]

Quote

 

...I'd rather invest my time/effort on this shiny, purring 6 year-old beige sedan than on a rusty, coughing, 17 year-old SUV.  

 

George P.

 

 

Well, my daily driver SUV is 18 years old, and of course my phonographs are 120 years old +/-.  So, there's my mindset I guess 😉

[Henry]

Daily-driver 24-year-old Prius "Classic" (2002) here, but the XI is only 109.

 

I inadvertently logged out of TMF about three(?) years ago while transferring files to a new iPad, and after numerous failed attempts to log back in, I gave up and activated my membership in this forum. I had learned a great deal about phonographs over many years in TMF, but since I'm no longer able to participate, I rely on the good folks on this forum to keep me informed and interested in the hobby. A big "thank you" goes out all those whose efforts make this forum possible!  

Edited Saturday at 09:39 PM by Henry

[phonogfp]

4 hours ago, Jerry said:

 

Well, my daily driver SUV is 18 years old, and of course my phonographs are 120 years old +/-.  So, there's my mindset I guess 😉

 

🙂  Our Subaru Forester is 17 years old, with 166,000 on the clock.  But it's reliable and quickly fires up every time I turn the key!  Before that, our Chevy Astro van was 16 years old with 255,000 miles on it.  It still ran like a watch, but the driver's seat was literally falling apart under me and the electric hatch release had been fixed several times.  It's no fun when you must retrieve garbage bags in the back of the van by crawling over the middle and third rows of seats.  I share your mindset - - but only so long as "it works."

 

George P.

[Tinfoilphono]

I'm simply tired of the drama at TMF. It's almost as bad as Facebook at times. What happened to simply sharing a fun hobby?

[Valecnik]

9 hours ago, phonogfp said:

 

🙂  Our Subaru Forester is 17 years old, with 166,000 on the clock.  But it's reliable and quickly fires up every time I turn the key!  Before that, our Chevy Astro van was 16 years old with 255,000 miles on it.  It still ran like a watch, but the driver's seat was literally falling apart under me and the electric hatch release had been fixed several times.  It's no fun when you must retrieve garbage bags in the back of the van by crawling over the middle and third rows of seats.  I share your mindset - - but only so long as "it works."

 

George P.

I guess I've got  you, Henry and Jerry beat at least with age but not miles.  Our Škoda Fabia 1.9 Liter standard diesel turned 25 years in February.  Only 128,000 miles on it and almost maintenance free.  Not a lot of options, no AC and crank windows so not a lot to go wrong!

[Jerry]

17 hours ago, Tinfoilphono said:

I'm simply tired of the drama at TMF. It's almost as bad as Facebook at times. What happened to simply sharing a fun hobby?

 

I think it will calm down and get back to "normal". Seems like all web forums have their periodic tempests in a tea kettle.

[Henry]

12 hours ago, Valecnik said:

I guess I've got  you, Henry and Jerry beat at least with age but not miles.  Our Škoda Fabia 1.9 Liter standard diesel turned 25 years in February.  Only 128,000 miles on it and almost maintenance free.  Not a lot of options, no AC and crank windows so not a lot to go wrong!

 

Prius w/178K miles is currently getting  ~49 mpg. And just to keep this thread phono-related (it's a stretch, I know), my XI will run about 5 minutes on a one fool-power complete windup. (Apologies to George Washington Sears, a/k/a Nessmuk, who described his canoe as a "one fool-power" craft.)

[zipcord]

this is my first post to APS.

 

Looking at Acoustic Machines on APS, the 5th topic is dated April 21st, while on TMF the 5th topic is dated May 10th.  There is still way more traffic on TMF compared to APS.  Am I missing something? 

[Valecnik]

If traffic is the main concern, there are a half dozen Facebook groups that get more traffic than either forum.  Other factors one might want to consider are user support and future availability imho.

[phonogfp]

There's no question that the TMF gets more traffic than the APS Forum.  That's an artifact of the users rather than attributes of either forum.

 

George P.

[Jerry]

Honestly, I seldom start a new topic on any forum. Probably 98% of my posts are in answer to a question or to comment on a machine, etc. If more people posted here, chances are I would too, (like now!!). I realize that does not help to get any forum to get "busy", but maybe it's the case with the low participation of others as well?? In that vein, I posted a new topic on TMF some time back when I noticed it was also getting low traffic, (yes, perhaps due to performance issues), and it seemed to spark new life. Maybe APS forum admin could "salt" this forum with conversation starters?? Phono of the week posting? 

Edited Monday at 10:38 PM by Jerry

[Hogan]

That's a fun idea! Phono of the week, a sort of spinn off from the featured phonographs that used to be on the TMF, which I really enjoyed back in the day! Extra interesting machines for whatever reason...