November 2004 Issue

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Time For Decision

It was on September 2nd 1987 that the first letter was sent advising interested parties that there was to be an inaugural meeting of the Southampton section of the 1512 Independent User Group which was the forerunner of The Southampton PC Users Club.

Following the meeting nearly 50 members were enrolled among whom were several school teachers.

We had no difficulty in those days in attracting new members as few had any experience of the use of computers. The Amstrad 1512 computer had just come on the market and was replacing the BBC computer that was in use in educational establishments at the time.

Luckily we had one or two teachers that did have computer experience and they were a great help to me by giving talks and demonstrations. Help was also readily available from others.

There was already a computer club in existence at the time catering for Sinclair users but the PC was rapidly taking over and that club folded with some members joining the club that I had just started.

One of the other club members, Richard Starkey, was just starting a computer business and was a great help to me. Richard and I attended many computer exhibitions where we met representatives of most of the program publishers at the time.

Programs were very expensive at that time, some costing several hundred pounds. Richard and I were given complimentary copies of most of the programs so that we could learn them and assist others in the use of them.

Richard and I travelled all over the place installing computers and networks. It was my job (voluntary) to assist new users with programs that Richard had supplied. Richard and I attended many courses and I have numerous certificates stating that I had attended courses and was qualified to install programs and instruct purchasers on how to use them.

Richard and I frequently arranged for publishers to send professional demonstrators to our meetings and often expensive programs were given to us to raffle to augment our funds.

Things move on, programs are very much cheaper these days and publishers will no longer do anything to assist us. Users have become more experienced and no longer need our assistance. Computers have become common place and it seems to be the thing to have a computer even if the owner has no particular use for one. I am constantly being asked questions wherever I go regarding problems experienced but few want to take the time to join the club where there are many willing to help.

So where do we stand today? Bryan and I have done a rough calculation. At present we have 15 members. We have about £100 in the bank. The average attendance these days is about 5 or 6. The hire of the room is £18 and other expenses such as the newsletter and postage amount to about £5 per month.

If we collect annual subs of £10 for the new year and meeting fees of £2 as before, I calculate that we can keep going for another year.

Most members are quite happy to meet once a month for a chat and to assist each other. I cannot promise any organised programs for the immediate future although I have been offered assistance in this respect from David Dawson-Taylor. Talks and demonstrations take time in organising and I am very reluctant to accept such offers when I know from bitter experience that few will attend the meeting. If anyone is willing to assist with a talk or demonstration they will be more than welcome but there will probably be few in attendance. It is quite nice to have a demonstration on a Lap Top as a few members bring theirs to meetings now. Demonstrations in this way can be better in some respects as other members are more inclined to ask questions and in some cases can even be a help to the demonstrator.