http://rotarynews.com/view.php?id=188

One of the confusing things for those waiting for the new Mazda rotary is this is the first all-new-rotary powered car from Mazda to come out since the popularization of the Internet.

Remember back in 1992, when the FD3s RX-7 came out? Were how many of us were on the Internet? How many of us were on the big list? Did the list even exist back then (when did Jeff N. start the list?) How many of us would have killed for a place to go to read new information about the RX-7 back then? I remember not seeing my first FD in person until well into 1993, even though the magazines had spy shots, production photos, test drives, etc as far back as 1991.

I wasn't on the Internet back then, but I was electronically connected, on the old BBS systems. Yet there was little to no Mazda content on these boards. There was no central place to go and chat about Mazdas. Local clubs had broken off from the national club, and these were dissolving even further. Any information from local clubs was second hand at best. There was little to no information for non-insiders at the time, at least nothing like there is today. The information we had mainly came from the dealers, and magazines. All of which was official information released by Mazda's PR Department.

The Internet changed everything. It made information accessible, in turn more confusing, and introduced information overload. We visit websites that have people talk about seeing the RX-8, we have list members from all around the world reporting in about "this, that and the other thing..." Mazda hasn't fully adapted to this new medium yet. Their website offers no information, no tracking system, and no new news about the shipment of cars. This may be partly due to the fact that the RX-8 hasn't officially been launched for sale in the US yet. The old world media of magazines are 1-3 months behind, by the nature of the print medium. Rumors (or factual information) propagates the boards and lists, but there is no official source to back it up.

The RX-8 has been a long time in coming. Remember October 1999 and the RX-Evolv? The rumor mill was in full production the summer of 1999, leaking tidbits about a Mazda rotary concept. After the unveiling the the Evolv, the rumors were either confirmed or blown off. In 2001, we saw the first RX-8 concept, with the equal amount of rumors going around before. Here it is, June 2003, and people are finally seeing the fruits of that concept on the streets for the first time. But there is no official word on the net to confirm this. They are reporting any sightings to their local RX lists, which then gets copy and pasted into this list, the forums, and other boards. We hear of boats shipping with "the first cars." We have "Mazda insiders" that hand out information, then fail to update that info when Mazda changes plans. We have copy-and-pasters that take posts from lists and post it to boards, and visa versa. All the while, Mazda hasn't released any information yet, since in their view, the product has yet to be released to this market.

However, Mazda will release information shortly. As soon as next week with the short lead press preview in LA. So, once again, stay tuned.

Good thing we have the internet now. If we were forced to rely on the info from Mazda we would get practically nothing.
This forum has probably convinced many people to buy the car.

Originally posted by cueball1029
Good thing we have the internet now. If we were forced to rely on the info from Mazda we would get practically nothing.
This forum has probably convinced many people to buy the car. And informed others that this is NOT the car for them. Saving them additional frustration when their "bad fit" car shows up.

i was thinking about this post from dan on the way in to work this morning when it struck me how blind people must be getting left behind in this internet age. between email, IM, text messaging and internet boards there is just so much info that we sighted people have access to that blind people on their own do not.:(

Blind people do have access to the internet and all its written content. There are a number of specialized "brail machines" (sp?) that connect into the keyboard and/or USB that allows the blind to read anything on the internet, with inventive ways to navigate the pages and so on.. I don't know the details but I have seen the devices in use. There are all kinds "for the blind" software that "hook" into many programs you mention (IM, email, text messaging, forum boards, IRC, etc..) that allow the blind the ability to use them. The stuff is not mainstream and certainly creates additional costs for the blind person, but you would be surprised how "plugged in" some of these chaps are.

wow cool. do the sites have to be encoded to work with these devices or or do they just work with any site? any blind people on this board?

i think dan also had a good point in that the internet chats increas the levels of anxiety as well as reduce them.

Originally posted by zoom44
wow cool. do the sites have to be encoded to work with these devices ..

No, I imagine the software that comes with the brail machine interprets the letters on the website and then sends the output to the brail machine.

I sure hope I don't encounter any of these blind folks behind the controls of an rx-8:D Sorry I just couldn't resist that one.

Originally posted by CERAMICSEAL
I sure hope I don't encounter any of these blind folks behind the controls of an rx-8:D Sorry I just couldn't resist that one.

Well, at least you brought the subject of RX-8 back into the thread... This thread was hijacked after just 2 posts... :)


http://stathakis.spidee.net/rsa/hijack.jpg



Bringing it back on subject: These days it is so easy to find informaion. Nearly any subject you can think of has a search result from google or other search engines. I think there is a craving of information these days, rather than in the days before the net, you'd simply be surprised to open your car-and-driver and see the concepts and new models.

while i have been found guilty of hijacking threads around here in the past i must defend myself.;) please re read my posts and you will find that i was writing about how people access info on the internet(which i thought was the thrust of the article and that dan was just using mazda as the vehicle) and how some may be left behind. these are the thoughts that your article provoked in me dan. so i think this was on topic and i made sure to say something which directly realted to your article as well in my subsequent post.



and besides it was the 3rd post not second in this thread;)

Dan can you give us a hint at to what the news is? My guess is that Mazda will anounce a tentative release date for the RX-8.