Please bring back NNTP

When I got into work this morning, I checked my email and newsgroups as usual.  When I selected adobe.photoshop.lightroom, my newsreader chugged away for a minute or so and then gave me a "host not found" error.  I tried again a few minutes later, with the same result.

So I decided to browse over to http://forums.adobe.com and see if the forums were up.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that

(a) there's new forum software

(b) there was no NNTP-visible announcement of the new forum software

(c) NNTP will no longer be supported.

Is Adobe trying to alienate a certain class of user?  If so, they're succeeding.

I have used NNTP for a decade and a half.  It is a highly efficient way of sharing information.  Using a newsreader, I can see the list of postings since my last visit (and *only* those posting), or I can see all postings.  I can sort them quickly, in any order I wish.  The listing will have only the information I choose to show (in my case, it's typically Subject, Author, and Date/Time, all in one line, producing a highly compact, information-dense display that can't be matched by forum software).  From that listing, I can easily and quickly respond to postings or decide to post something new.  Oh, and I can do all of that for all of my newsgroups, from one place.

Getting similar functionality with this new software will apparently require an RSS reader for the listing, a browser to read each posting I'm interested in (opening in a new window or tab), and a browser to post new messages.  Every page I view will have all sorts of wrapper cruft - headers (with a shopping cart icon!  boy, I really need *that* when I'm reading or posting!), footers, formatting, etc.  That all takes time to load and adds visual clutter, both of which get in the way of my primary task, which is giving and receiving information.

And, of course, if I read several forums/newsgroups per day, I need all of the above for each one.  And they're all different.  Yeah, I'll do *that*.

I searched for NNTP across the forums and read the thread about how horrible NNTP is because of overquoting and (gasp!) lack of formatting.  I have one reaction: GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!

Overquoting?  It's quite easy to trim your quoting, and it is also proper ettequitte.  Anyone who doesn't is an idiot and will probably find other abuses to commit using this new software.

Lack of formatting?  Hardly.  This posting has formatting.  It's got paragraphs (remember those from English class?  It sure seems like a lot of web forum users don't), a numbered (well, lettered) list, and use of capitalization and other special characters for emphasis.  Maybe it's not as flashy as using boldfaced clever smileys and lots of random fonts, but it's pretty darn readable anyway, isn't it?

Let us not forget why we are here.  We are not here to be entertained.  We are here to give and receive information about products we use.

I have gotten a lot of benefit over the past couple of years from the Lightroom forums, in large part *because* of the efficiency of NNTP.  I simply don't have the time to devote to accessing them without NNTP, so I will only be rarely checking in, which means I will lose a valuable source of information.

Adobe, you have succeeded in alienating at least one customer.  Congratulations.