"If it was easy, anybody could do it"

Jim,

I hope you don't mind if I snipped 99% of our previous messages. It's
not because I am unwilling to challenge point for point, but rather
because, after a hard day of work, I don't have the time or energy! I
might try harder next Saturday evening, but tonight I need my rest.

I have avoided becoming engaged in this debate for several years because
I didn't feel that it was pertinent in the survival of the hobby. Now I do.

Your best arguments are those regarding the feasibility of BPL as a
technologically appropriate means of delivering high speed internet
service. The laws of physics will trump the "laws" of economics any day
of the week. My worry is that logic is often the last consideration in a
scramble for the buck. You are operating under the assumption that logic
will prevail the onslaught of megabucks in the "free" and "unregulated"
marketplace.

My major argument against your viewpoint is that the code IS a major
detriment to beginning the process of becoming a ham. When I was young
there was a MAGIC to wireless communication that simply does not exist
today. I work with students whose cell phones are far more sophisticated
than our best handhelds. They send images back and forth that the sstv
operators would die for. How much do their "transceivers" cost? NOTHING!
They are free (?) with their service! Put yourself in my position trying
to explain that they can really have a lot of fun talking with strangers
from different cultures with EXPENSIVE radios AND they need to study for
a test in order to do so.

They say, "GEE, ATT wireless never asked me to take a test to talk to my
uncle in Thailand. He's just there!"

The killer is when I tell them, "In order to talk to these really cool
strangers around the world you need to learn this really cool code that
was invented in 1844. It's REALLY slow compared with what you are used
to, but in the event of a disaster, you will really appreciate it."

To sell ham radio, we are in the marketplace of ideas. The code
requirement makes a hard sell even harder.

"If it was easy, anybody could do it," HELLOOO! Anybody CAN do it! If
you don't believe me, bop on down to your local high school and try to
sell them a top notch handheld! NO WAY! They want a cell phone that lets
them trade images and text messages.

Amateur radio has a history of being at the cutting edge of
communication technology. Has anybody else noticed that, while we have
been arguing over 160 year-old technology, we have been overtaken by
commercial digital technology?

Jim, how do you propose to stem the tide of the declining number of
amateur radio operators regardless if they are CW or phone operators?
More significantly, how do you propose that we increase OR MAINTAIN the
proportion of amateur operators relative to the general population?

I apologize if my remarks are particularly strident this evening. I
think we are far closer on this issue than you might realize. I am torn
between the simplicity of the code and the realities of the digital age.
I have had my students make and use telegraph sets while studying the
"Western Movement." They are always curious about the novelty of Morse
Code, especially with regard to the sinking of the Titanic. Between
myself and other amateurs who teach high school, I would estimate our
"conversion rate" optimistically at about 1 in 4,000. Of the same
sample, I would guess that at least 90% are cell phone subscribers.

Thinking about the Titanic, I hope we are not rearranging the deck
chairs....

I would like to discuss these issues with you on the air, but, of
course, on SSB.

TNX
Tom