Notes App Review and Trial Software Discussion Vanished!

[Verizon Hopeful]

Not sure why, but the review of a Notepad application and the subsequent discussion on the merits (pro and con) of trial versions of WP7 software that was on the front page of WPCentral seems to have vanished!

While the postings veered away from the merits of the application to a lively discussion on trial versions of software, I think the discussion was educational in nature, both for users and software developers alike. I posted in that series and am disappointed that the owners/publishers of this website appear to have taken down the original article and the resulting threads.

Although the discussion bordered on a flame war, it really didn't get that far. For the most part, the posters were civil and parties either agreed or disagreed with each other and did not resort to personal attacks. Above all, it was a reminder that you really have to have a thick skin and not allow a differing opinion to get personal. That said, I hope the removal of the article and threads is not a sign that WPCentral will arbitrarily remove content in the future -- especially if the discussion is indeed civil.

 

[NickA]

+1 to your post. I just navigated to WPCentral to look for that post. I noticed a nice debate going on, and wanted to catch up on the discussion. Being a developer myself, and thinking about migrating my apps (27+in the App Store, 19 and counting in the Android Market) to WP7, I was really curious as to what end users thought of the trial process.

If anything, leave the post about the Notepad application available so users can read about it, and just don't allow comments. If you can't take a spirited debated on something you wrote (whoever wrote the article), don't take it out on the developer. He/she is just trying to earn their .99 on an application they spent their own precious time on.

 

[Verizon Hopeful]

NickA, I appreciate the thanks.

I believe that removal of the original post and subsequent discussion threads will have a chilling effect on discussion on this website. If content can be removed arbitrarily (without any notice or rationale) why will readers want to post their thoughts? If the publishers of this website want to foster a community environment where folks feel that issues can be freely debated and ideas exchanged, then this is NOT the way to do it. Perhaps all that is desired is an outlet for designated writers to publish their thoughts and reviews without any feedback from readers? Hopefully that's not the case.

 

[NickA]

NickA, I appreciate the thanks.

I believe that removal of the original post and subsequent discussion threads will have a chilling effect on discussion on this website. If content can be removed arbitrarily (without any notice or rationale) why will readers want to post their thoughts? If the publishers of this website want to foster a community environment where folks feel that issues can be freely debated and ideas exchanged, then this is NOT the way to do it. Perhaps all that is desired is an outlet for designated writers to publish their thoughts and reviews without any feedback from readers? Hopefully that's not the case.

I wasn't going to respond to your original post, but I strongly agree with what you said. I wasn't going to add my .02, but just didn't like the way the whole thing "felt". In addition to my HD7, I also own a Samsung Fascinate and I'm very active in the AndoidCentral forums. We always have good, clean and intelligent discussions about a lot of topics. The moderators are very active in the discussions as well and it's a really nice atmosphere. Hopefully WP7 will grow, and the community will get larger and attract more people to this site. It's a decent site already with a lot of good members, and it's not fair to the entire community (members or not) to be removing articles because you don't agree with thoughts different than your own.