Strange too, how telephone boxes can harbour adverts that might lead to STD�s, and also, the odd thruppenny bit on the floor.

Enough of nostalgia (yes, I remember buttons A and B). I have noticed for some time that activity on these forums has reduced enormously, many sub forums having no posts for several months at a time. Even the main site rarely has anything of note. The days of thinkforum seem to be over.

Everybody everywhere is too busy squabbling about Brexit ...

... there�s a rose spectacled past I fondly hanker for ... no sodding Brexit.

A lot of younger people sadly see the internet as �twitter� or �facebook�. The articles on the main site can get index and referenced by other media sites, but the forums are very specialist.

The lack of STEM skills and DIY in the younger generations is concerning. I know a handful of 20 somethings whom just use computers, no idea about how things work, and not interested. I assume the same for broadband!!

The site DigitalSpy has a forum about Mobile Phones which covers mobile broadband, but it is a worse signal to noise ratio.

Perhaps this is because the IT/computer industry has finally reached its mid 40s, and this a technical mid-life crisis.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Ummm.

Didn�t they used to deliver letters reliably, twice a day, to almost everywhere? Sometimes same day?

With an overnight success rate in the 1980s for letters not posted in the local area of somewhere about 80% IIRC. First quarter results for 2019 show that 93.2% of all first class letters achieved next day delivery. (You may guess I have a bit of a vested interest from my handle!).

My wife started work in the GPO, ending up in the telecoms side when it was split up. I currently receive half her pension since she died. So I have a vested interest in BT.

I'm not sure how comparable those two percentages are though, given the volume of both first and second class has decreased considerably, and mechanisation of sorting would have occurred at some point.

I do know that a postperson's job these days is horrendously hard work, with very high pressure.

I have noticed for some time that activity on these forums has reduced enormously ... Even the main site rarely has anything of note. The days of thinkforum seem to be over.

Yes, this is what I was hinting in my OP. Still a great site when one needs a helping hand.

To an extent, Mike, the most technical people have as a group either stopped visiting forums like this one entirely or do so far more rarely.

The SNR on them dropped substantially as the topic became more mainstream.

You can only read people ranting in all capitals, people talking out of their hindmost and trolls so many times before you get tired of it and retreat to closed industry / professional boards.

More ISPs have their own forums where their first line support guys can assist their own customers too.

Edited by CarlTSpeak (Sat 26-Oct-19 16:50:40)

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

I have noticed for some time that activity on these forums has reduced enormously ... Even the main site rarely has anything of note. The days of thinkforum seem to be over.

Yes, this is what I was hinting in my OP. Still a great site when one needs a helping hand.

Everyone on this forum has their own reasons for being here, some are here because they have an issue, some are here because they have something to say and probably most of us are here because we have nothing better to do

Maybe those that attend are a changing but while people have issues its still one of the main go to places to get help.

Edited by deleted (Sat 26-Oct-19 17:36:16)

Most unhygienic!