AWF Slowing Down (1 Viewer)

[Edgar_]

@BlueSpruce
Do you wanna turn this Access forum into something else? perhaps an AI "enhanced" forum? for what purpose?

 

[CJ_London]

Views are not a reliable metric,

I see number of threads and posts, not views

 

[Pat Hartman]

t's loosing relevancy.

It actually isn't because there is nothing to replace it with.

 

[BlueSpruce]

It actually isn't because there is nothing to replace it with.

Wrong, there's plenty alternatives, e.g. DotNet, C#, Web Apps, AI, etc. The proof is virtually no one wants to learn to develop with Access and stakeholders don't want any new apps developed with it. It's only relevant to our Cottage Industry and the users who have been clinging onto it. How long is that going to last? It's dying a slow death by attrition.

 

[BlueSpruce]

@BlueSpruce
Do you wanna turn this Access forum into something else? perhaps an AI "enhanced" forum? for what purpose?

I'm not saying to totally do away with Access, I'm saying to rebrand this site to offer and promote more diverse forums, e.g. healthcare, accounting, stocks, cryptocurrency, movie trivia, games (bridge, chess, hearts), topics that are trending. We don't have to strictly stay within the IT realm.

 

[CJ_London]

so become a jack of all trades and master of none?

 

[BlueSpruce]

AWF already masters Access, but that only appeals to Access developers and users. We preserve that and augment the site with other trending realms to attract new blood. But it has to be promoted.What other non Access forums and social sites do you frequent. What sports and hobbies are we into? What's trending in the world?

 

[CJ_London]

What other non Access forums and social sites do you frequent. What sports and hobbies are we into? What's trending in the world?

I go to sites that have that in depth knowledge of the subject with members who have strong and relevant experience. Most of the time I'm looking for expertise rather than opinions. If I have a watch to be repaired, I take it to a watchmaker, not the local supermarket.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Me:
would you say this is a healthy site or in decline? https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/

ChatGPT:

 

[BlueSpruce]

Me:
would you say this is a healthy site or in decline? https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/

ChatGPT:

View attachment 121826

Do you truly believe that?

 

[AccessBlaster]

Do you truly believe that?

Yes

 

[BlueSpruce]

Yes

Let's hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

 

[BlueSpruce]

The important questions are:

1. Is AWF generating enough income for the owner to continue running it?

2. If not, how long is the owner willing to cover the expenses?

 

[GPGeorge]

I'm not saying to totally do away with Access, I'm saying to rebrand this site to offer and promote more diverse forums, e.g. healthcare, accounting, stocks, cryptocurrency, movie trivia, games (bridge, chess, hearts), topics that are trending. We don't have strictly stay within the IT realm.

Like, oh, say, Google.com and ChatGPT?

 

[BlueSpruce]

Like, oh, say, Google.com and ChatGPT?

Whatever accomplishes the goal. I just feel that if AWF stays "as is" it's not going to grow. How many other Access forums have we seen bite the dust?

 

[CJ_London]

How many other Access forums have we seen bite the dust?

I can think of one, and that had nothing to do with the popularity (or otherwise) of Access. How many do you know?

Most of your posts are on the water cooler, very few on technical issues. So suspect you need a different forum. But at least here you can be a big fish in a small pond. Yes the number of technical questions have reduced since the emergence of AI but I fail to see how introducing subjects on healthcare, accounting etc helps the main purpose of the forum. I don't believe Jon is in it for the money

If you are bothered by the adverts, become a private supporter.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I can think of one, and that had nothing to do with the popularity (or otherwise) of Access. How many do you know?

Most of your posts are on the water cooler, very few on technical issues. So suspect you need a different forum. But at least here you can be a big fish in a small pond. Yes the number of technical questions have reduced since the emergence of AI but I fail to see how introducing subjects on healthcare, accounting etc helps the main purpose of the forum. I don't believe Jon is in it for the money

If you are bothered by the adverts, become a private supporter.

I know of several Access forums that no longer exist. You seem to be offended by my non technical comments. You're content with AWF's status quo, whereas I'm sure Jon would like to see more growth. The adverts don't bother me because my VPN provider's ad blocker suppresses them.

If Jon's not in it for the money, then why have Google adverts on AWF?

 

[GPGeorge]

Whatever accomplishes the goal. I just feel that if AWF stays "as is" it's not going to grow. How many other Access forums have we seen bite the dust?

Sorry, sometimes I can be too subtle.

I was implying that the market for broad searches is pretty well saturated by the big players in search, e.g. Google, and by the AI LLMs, e.g. ChatGPT.

A site like this one trying to transition into a "Me Too" site is not a guarantee of relevance.

With regard to "being in it for the money", I don't believe there's ever been any significant profit in most technically oriented forums. On the other hand, people who do sponsor them have expenses to cover, so if they can recoup some part of those expenses, I say more power to them. If people like Jon can also earn a little coffee and bagel money in the process, all the better.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Wrong, there's plenty alternatives, e.g. DotNet, C#, Web Apps, AI, etc.

No, you're wrong or maybe you don't have a clue how Access fits into the available tools used to create applications. Not everyone needs or wants a Web app. Not every company or non-profit can afford to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions to build an app using a different tool than Access. Give the specs for even simple Access applications to professional developers and see what you get for a price quote. The state of Connecticut spent over $3 MILLION dollars plus a few hundred thousand on hardware plus another few hundred thousand dollars per year for maintenance to build a survey app that should have been built with Access using existing hardware - not web enabled since that was never necessary - for < $100,000. Actually probably less than that but the state is a PITA to work with so maybe < $250,000. Pennies on the dollar for what they actually spent and the time would have also ended up being months rather than years with minimal annual maintenance because the survey should have been able to be managed by trained users and the system could have handled multiple different surveys at no extra charge had it been properly designed. Instead, they got a hard-coded, non-normalized solution that required programming support to change the text of a question even slightly.

Access has a very low bar to entry. You don't have to know anything about programming to produce something you can work with. It won't necessarily be "good" but a company's own staff can build it. What are the odds of a power user being able to build a functioning web app that includes the functionality of a basic Access app? Even Power BI can't come close and neither can SharePoint and those are the two lowest bars of entry. They also cost thousands of dollars per year in license fees which Access doesn't require since you can use the Runtime engine if you don't want to pay for Access licenses for each user.

 

[CJ_London]

I know of several Access forums that no longer exist.

So why not name them?

You seem to be offended by my non technical comments.

No

f Jon's not in it for the money, then why have Google adverts on AWF?

To recover his costs