FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Gail]

Always delightful to hear from people without an identity. People who are so narcissistic as to make assumptions about wealth, origin and demeanor. People who choose a rather silly name such as stumpy to hide behind. Yawn. Wake me when you step up and let us know who you are, until then your voice is minimized by your anonymity.

[Philippe Durand]

I don t know Rocks & Minerals magazine; it is surely pretty good.

As a long time reader of the Min Record, I always enjoy it. Yes, it is somewhat elite oriented.
So,where is the problem, it makes me dream.
Keep on going MR;

I am sure that extraordinary (with defects) issues will be collectibles :)

[Bob Carnein]

I've been thinking about this thread, and, at the risk of beating a dead horse, I would like to add a couple of things. First, the MR costs (in the US) about $80 per year and goes out to 5000 or so subscribers. That comes to about $400K of income from subscribers. I assume the magazine gets some significant income from those whole-page advertisers, whose full color ads are themselves a virtual museum of things most of us may never see in person. Considering costs of production and mailing, I can't imagine anyone is getting rich on this. It appears to be a "labor of love", and the fact that it has endured as a quality product and at a reasonable price is, to me, amazing. If you don't like the hype, try reading the articles. They're excellent.

Second, wealthy patrons are the reason many worthwhile things in our hobby exist. I go to Mindat.org whenever I need some quick information--it's, to me, the most valuable mineral resource out there. But, how many of us donate to Mindat when they send out their occasional appeals? I believe the answer is in the low hundreds. Once again, think of the expertise involved (I'm sure Jolyon Ralph could make a lot of money using his computer skills for some other end) and the enormous hole that would be left if it shut down. I'm thankful for those individuals and businesses that support worthwhile projects for which most of us can't pay nearly what they're worth.

Third, as I enter the fourth quarter of my mortal century, it dismays me to see a lot of clever but not very smart people railing against the "elites" and "elitists". When I was young, those people were called "experts", and many people, even those without much education, valued their contributions to civil society. In the US, we make fun of "elites" while worshiping some of the worst members of our culture. Granted, some mineral collectors are treasure hunters who don't care much about the science; a few of them might have more money than sense, but who am I to make judgments about that? They support high end dealers who, in turn, help to support things like Mindat and the MR. I say "Thank Goodness" for that.

[Chris Rayburn]

Very thoughtful input Bob. This thread took a bit of a turn from Bob H's original purpose. I believe you've brought it back around to solid ground. I happen to agree with the points you've made; not all of us will (which is fine), but I thank you for expressing them so reasonably.