For some folks learning new software is a chore to be avoided with an enthusiasm normally reserved for things like cleaning out the gutters, going to the dentist or, as in my case, going shopping for clothes (something I absolutely hate to do). However there are a strange few of us who routinely subject ourselves to this learning experience for fun. No matter which of these groups you fall into, I want to share some observations about the value I have gained from learning to use my latest email program -- The Bat.

After having been a devoted Eudora Pro user for long time, I grew tired of it's demand for system resources and it's occasional lockups and refusal to shutdown so I migrated about six months ago to The Bat. On the surface it looks a lot like Eudora Pro but The Bat has an a number of very powerful features like the use of templates and filters that make it quite attractive. When I downloaded The Bat for the 30 day free trial, I knew that the quickest way to learn to use it was to join The Bat User Discussion List so that I could pose questions if I had them about the program's operation. As it turns out, I discovered that by lurking on that list and reading the questions others ask about its operation, I picked up things I didn't even known I needed to know. I began experimenting with the features and I continue to learn how to use the program to its maximum.

My reason for raising this issue is to point out the serendipity of discovering information you didn't know you needed or wanted to know. While reading The Bat User Discussion List (TBUDL, for short), I found both Spamkiller and more recently Time and Chaos which have become an integral part of my software toolbox. I found them when I saw them recommended as a solution to a problem that someone had mentioned on TBUDL. Discussion lists like this are useful for a number of reasons. They obviously meet the objective for which they were created, which is to say they inform about products like The Bat, but in the process of learning those lessons, one also sees examples of how others deal with one another online. I'm freqently impressed with the way moderators of such groups "control" off-topic discussions, dead-horse threads and hair-pulls between members of the list. The interpersonal aspects of these lists are sometimes more educational than the technical details they provide.

The primary downside I see from being a member of such lists is dealing with a high volume of mail, a lot of which may be only marginally of interest. But for the occasional surprise of discovering an application you didn't know you needed and the chance to see others deal with online "problem situations" it's hard to beat the education a discussion list provides.


- posted by Perry @ 6:01 AM