Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Run Silent, Run Cheap-Shot

[Ray Keefer <Ray.Keefer@Sun.COM>]

Hi,

Since everyone is putting in their two bits. Here is mine.

The article did what I wanted. Got the fact out that there are
people who build their own submarines and PSUBS is a way to contact them.

I did not expect a lot of detail, accurate or not. Most none subbers don't
care about the details and one article is certainly not going to spell
it all out anyway. How many books on the subject do each of us own?
How many years of experience? One article is not going to tell it all.

Regards,
Ray

> Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 10:38:33 -0500 (EST)
> From: Jonathan Wallace <jon@psubs.org>
> To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Run Silent, Run Cheap-Shot
> 
> I agree for the most part with Pat's analysis.  I'm sure there were good
> intentions by both the reporter and Forbes, but I wasn't impressed by
> the article.  When I first heard that Forbes was going to put something
> in print, I thought it would be a good mechanism to further legitimize
> both home-built submersibles and PSUBS.  My reaction after reading the
> article was more like "that's it?".  I don't think it made anyone look
> like "bozo's" or "bafoons", but I think it cast us as "amateurist" which
> is inaccurate.
> 
> The word "cheap" certainly shouldn't have been used although I don't
> think they meant it probably, the way it sounded.    
> 
> (Interrupt -- one more to kill letter)
> & r
> To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Run Silent, Run Cheap-Shot
> 
> I agree for the most part with Pat's analysis.  I'm sure there were good
> intentions by both the reporter and Forbes, but I wasn't impressed by
> the article.  When I first heard that Forbes was going to put something
> in print, I thought it would be a good mechanism to further legitimize
> both home-built submersibles and PSUBS.  My reaction after reading the
> article was more like "that's it?".  I don't think it made anyone look
> like "bozo's" or "bafoons", but I think it cast us as "amateurist" which
> is inaccurate.
> 
> Certainly, the majority of us who participate in PSUBS and most people
> who have undertaken a psub project on their own are not "professional"
> fabricators of underwater vehicles.  However, I think the majority of
> homebuilt psubs certainly illustrate that the owners take the matter
> seriously and have produced serious, functional, and safe crafts.
> 
> I think the article failed to capture the seriousness of those who 
> were the subject of it.  In contrast, the TV interview that John
> Farrington did with a local station in Texas who covered his fabrication
> of a K-350 was done rather tastefully and respectfully.
> 
> While the Forbes article was perhaps a disappointment, It was not a
> total waste of effort.  They provided some pointers to PSUBS and
> hopefully folks will visit and see how serious we really are with our
> efforts.
> 
> Jon