[Coco] Fresh new retro computing article!

[Eric]

For anyone sick of hearing on this subject, I suggest setting up a filter.
There were follow up answers to my questions and I intend to respond to
them. I think this is a good thread for the community as I feel it is time
we clear the air and maybe move forward as a community. Feelings were hurt
at this last Fest and I don't want to see it happen next year. Now maybe I
don't have much of a say on the matter but I'll say it anyway.

> In particular, check the thread under the top-level comment by Joey
Buckets...

I don't see Joey's posts. Were they removed or am I missing something?

>Brock Harrison literally says "Richard Lorbieski wanted me to join and
comment".
> A bit later, Richard Lorbieski says "I have no clue who this person is".

It's my understanding through hearsay that Richard at the time honestly did
not know who he was. Was not expecting any discussion on the subject. And
even if he did, I still fail to see the relevance. Richard is a seller of
hardware. Who cares where it comes from, who discusses it, how it's
manufactured, or anything else about it for that matter. He has a store, he
somehow manufactures it, and he sells it. Get over it. Nobody cares how
Cloud 9's stuff is manufactured. I have never even once ever heard anyone
ask if Mark designed his products himself or anything about that. The only
person from whom I've ever heard discuss the manufacturing process is Mark
himself.

> Banning Brock was not censorship in any way.

You banned him, questioned who he is, and invented conspiracy theories
around him. It's no wonder he's trying to remain anonymous. He was
censored. If you don't believe that, you simply don't know the definition
of the word censor. He still appears to be censored even though the only
comments I saw were about the hardware itself. As far as what I've seen,
he's been banned for discussing hardware that competes with Mark's hardware.

> It was suggested to him he could undo the ban if he wished.

And what criteria does he need to provide? Blood sample? Photographic ID? A
sincere apology?

This whole debate is bizarre. It's anti-competitive, anti-american, and
anti-user. This desire to control everyone else's actions needs to stop.

Lastly, to accuse Stevie of being Brock is on it's face absurd. The only
way it could be done is if Stevie copy/pasted what Richard wrote, and
Richard I have no doubt is perfectly capable of himself writing a response
to Mark's claims. And in fact it appears he did, with his own chart.

Lastly I just want to make it clear that I truly respect Mark Marlette.
He's stayed out of all of this and for that I can't blame him at all. There
are some that are angry at what Mark is (presumably) doing. My belief is
that this is caused by his keeping quiet. People are asking, "Where does
Mark stand on competition?", "Why hasn't Mark delivered on this or that
product he promised?", "Does Boisy speak for Mark?" They're not asking him,
they're just asking it and wishing he would involve himself somehow. I
can't blame him for wanting to stay out of it, and I'm not asking these
questions of him. I think just like Richard, Mark has no obligation to
deliver anything to any of you. He does this because he is good at it, and
because he enjoys it. Both he and Richard enjoy this hobby. On that same
note, nobody is paying Stevie or the CoCoCrew to make their shows. (Well ok
there are some payments changing hands, like patreons or adverts or
whatever, but you get what I mean!)

Meeting Mark and seeing the Cloud-9 booth was one of the hallmark's of my
first CoCo fest just a couple of years ago. It might sound silly, but I've
spent years checking his website (even when I didn't have a CoCo) just to
see what he was selling and how much he was charging for a shiny tricked
out CoCo3. Seeing him in person and everyone else I had heard about online
really cemented the system in my mind as the best retro platform to work
on!!

I'm not going to pick sides. I'm not going to pick the either CoCoCrew
podcast or the CoCoTalk web show. I'm not going to pick the either
Boomerang or the Triad+. I'm not going to pick the left or the right. We
can have it both ways. We can enjoy everything the community has to offer.