Totally true, but the main premise is that the new version IS patchable/fixable, whereas the old may not be able to be, or viable to be fixed.

The ads are in the last post on the thread. If you are the current "last post" then you will have an ad there. The next member to post will then have that for a time as well.

Social media in general, and in the case of offshoreonly.com a shifting/declining (I'll go with shifting) high-performance marine industry, has had an impact on all message board communities. But, and this really does make a difference, OSO is a searchable database with deep archives. In that regard, Facebook and the rest are useless.

Another plus of the message board environment: Try following a discussion on Facebook. Just brutal. Despite this "new" (and awkward, in my opinion) Vbulletin message board interface, it's a whole lot easier to follow than a discussion in social media.

It's driven by advertising. We tend to forget that the purpose of this site, and the purpose of radio, TV, and all media really, is, always has been, and always will be about $-MONEY-$. ADVERTISING. How do companies get their wares in front of people, and better yet, in front of an audience likely to buy their products. "HOW do I display my stuff to people that watch less and less television every day so they will buy my stuff so I can make money?" Why do you think the carriers have allowed our cell phones to be infected with "HI!! How would you like to make a million dollars in the next ten minutes!!! I'll tell you the secret!" ? MONEY. It would seem that since this is a subscription site, they should spare us from advertising. But like your cell phone that you also pay for, that will never happen. The media makes money from you on your subscription and from the advertisers. The trend in advertsing today is to get more and more into all social media and into your cell phones. Hope you like it.

Ok, cool. But I still need a hotlink button.

"LIKE"

So my post brings us to a 7 page thread, with 4 pages of "LIKE" comments. lol.

i agree and thats why the updates and changes to me are just, meh, whatever. I don't do social media - twitters, FB, Snapchat, etc. I'm comfy here

"Like"

Agree and Like

So..whats going to happen here, is that for the next week or two people will complain about the change...IB will promise to pay attention, maybe one or two small tweeks then it will be buisness as usual,... until a couple years go by and the do the next upgrade. Then everybody will complain because it changed and isnt like it is now.