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When I first joined MobileRead I was greeted warmly. The Sony PRS-500 had just been introduced a month or so before -- it was the first e-ink reader with widespread distribution in the uS. While there was coverage of the Sony, a majority of the forum was dedicated to reading on your PDA or cell phone.
I stayed for the great people thet were members of MobileRead. Some of my early questions were (as I look back now) very lame. All sorts of people answered them. Many had asked the same questions before and many have also asked them since -- what set MobileRead apart for all other forums I have ever visited is that they answered them as if it was the first time the question had been asked. There was no, go look in the manual or Google it. I wanted to know and they wanted to help. I stuck around.
After a while I knew enough in a few areas to help others. I remember the first karma I received for helping someone with a problem. My response took about 15 seconds to type but may have saved them many hours of experimentation.
A lot of the questions we asked and answered in those days have now found their way into the Wiki. Over time the Wiki grew haphazzardly and in spurts until Dale reorganized it and gave it a great structure. Now we can link directly to the Wiki in responses. Also, the number of those basic questions have declined as the Wiki is far more usable and has a great wealth of knowledge.
The original intent of the forum (as I have understood it) is to promote and facilitate e-reading. The only change over the years has been the platforms. Likewise the software used has also evolved -- once the discussions were of Silo and Plucker, for a while BookDesigner was the hot topic, and now the software discussions center on Calibre and Mobipocket. (And many more I should list but they are not coming to mind at the moment.)
I stay at MobileRead because it just feels like home.
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