At 11:40 AM 2/15/01 +1100, you wrote:
>Dan,
>
>Thank for your comments regarding the Electronics discussion group joining
>form at http://www.orbitcoms.com
>
>The list uses LISTBOT as the server for the group. The questions posed are
>the standard form supplied by LISTBOT and as far as I can understand at
>present, cannot be modified.
>
>If you take a look at the marks next to the boxes, you should see that only
>a few fields are actually required to join the group. I have tried to mark
>fields as REQUIRED only if they were not too personal.
>


Hi David, I'm not sure how others feel about it, but my general feeling
is that american society is already "greatly" too invasive, and soon as
I see something like your form, my first inclination is to simply exit
right. Adios muchacho.

Whether some fields are or are not "required" doesn't really matter to
me in this case. When there is a line for "income" [not required] and
another for age [*=required], etc, as shown below, the ole RED FLAG just
goes right up the pole --> who are these people and why do they need
to know this stuff anyways?

Mr/Ms:
*First Name:
*Last Name:
Address:
*City:
State or Province:
ZIP or Postal Code:
*Country:
Phone
* Age:
Gender:
*Occupation:
Income:
*Company Name:
*Organization Type:
*Company Size:
Web Site Type:
Primary Net Connection:
Home Ownership:
Internet Experience:
Education:
Marital Status:
Children in Household:


Company size [required], home ownership, children in household
- [give me a friggin break].

Maybe I'm just being an overly sensitive american - but personally I'd
get rid of the damn thing completely. It also doesn't help that ListBot
comes from Micro$oft, this sounds like something they would create for
a lawyer or insurance company.

I would be interested to know if I am the only person around these
parts to feel this way  ???????????????????????
=================


>Any information given on this form is STRICTLY confidential and will not be
>passed on to any other party. I would suggest only entering details that are
>required or you feel comfortable with.
>

Also, on the internet circa 2001, these kinds of guarantees probably
won't assuage many people's anxieties re privacy.
===================


>It would be great if there was a way to not show all those other fields at
>all, I have no personal interest in marital status etc of users.
>

If I did keep this thing, I would make essentially EVERY field, beyond name
and email address, "optional".
=============


>I find that their name and general location (city/country), age and net
>experience is helpful information.
>
>This helps me understand how I need to phrase my answers etc to best suit
>the user.
>
>If I know that the person I am chatting with is inexperienced on the net
>etc, then I will try and make my answer simpler and avoid jargon etc.
>

Regarding this, you can usually tell what most people know [and also
whether or not they have any semblance of a sense of humor] just as
soon as they open their mouths :(0).
===================


>If anyone else here interested in joining the Wireless,Analog and Digital
>electronics discussion feels that the REQUIRED information on the join form
>is too invasive, please let me know and I can the fields that are
>problematic.
>
>Thanks again for the feedback.
>
>Best regards
>
>David Huisman


I'd like to hear some other opinions about this sort of thing too.

regards,
- dan michaels
www.oricomtech.com
==================

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