Deaths in Web 2?

As some readers may know there have been two recent deaths in the Web2 world I inhabit. The first, some weeks ago now, was Railpage  which seems to have died on 22nd January 2010. the second was the Perth Military Modelling Site (PMMS) whose owner/operator Terry Ashley has decided to stop adding content.

Railpage was a great and unexpected loss. It simply wasn't there and all the Gb of useful and useless information has simply gone.I am feeling its loos as I would browse the Railpage forums at least once a day – particularly the Model Railway and Railway Archaeology forums. There seem to be a number of knockers – some complaining about over moderation, others like Bob Cooke accusing posters of being slanders and stating that legal opinion was some posts were libellous (posting on the Aus Model Rail Group 3rd March 2010).

There was certainly a mixed bag of posters, some seemingly naive in their view of the hobby and the businesses that support it, others seemingly delighting in taking a view and defending it to the death and others were trolls. But in all that there were some who genuinely tried to provide good creditable information to help modellers.

I hope it comes back but its been almost 2 months.

PMMS was a reviews site which mostly dealt with model tanks, guns and other military items. It proprietor Terry Ashley was known for his detailed and accurate reviews of kits never being afraid to point out errors and omissions. as such he ran foul of Dragon and some serious nutters from “the Panther Project”. As a result I felt he seemed discouraged and drifted away from his site leaving the Review field to the ignorant and the hagiographers.

Again as someone who would view the site about every 2-3 days this development is a big disappointment.

We rely so much on the Web these days that when favourite sites disappear it leaves a hole in life.