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From: Dino Fire, Chapel Hill
Date: 22 Dec 1998
Time: 08:01:00
First, make no mistake about it...the Red Wing newsletter needs an online companion. In theory, it should be as definitive as is Wing Tips. At the very least, it should contain a complete archive of back-issues of the newletters as a reference resource.
The argument from the people who say that such an online edition would cheapen the "collectibility" value of the newsletter does not hold water. No electronic edition replaces original paper. (My wife collects prints; she has yet to hang one on the wall that she obtained by clicking "File...Print" from a web site.)
Second, I understand the issue that not all RWCS members have internet access. The implication is that the printed newsletter is the only means by which those folks would have an opportunity to buy Red Wing wares. This seems like a limited argument to me as well. Central North Carolina is hardly your hotbed of Red Wing, but I am able to find stuff all the time. I have to work harder at it, and I don't limit myself to the stores and auctions here. The point is that there is a ton of stuff out there to be found in addition to the thousands of pieces available through online sources like my site, eBay, The Pottery Auction, and Byron's Related Links.
Third, when we wake up tomorrow morning, the internet will still be here. And the next day. And the next day. Even the "new" Red Wing Stoneware company has reserved a domain, although they haven't published anything yet. It's here to stay, and more and more people will use it as a primary reference --if not marketing --source of Red Wing wares.
I'll offer more than this long-winded opinion. As a developer of a web site dealing in Red Wing myself, I'll volunteer -- at no cost -- to help with web design and publication, assuming that this is the way RWCS wants to go (i.e. free).
Dino