NICEVILLE, Fla. — Merry Christmas week, Geeks! As It’s Geek To Me is about to enter another year of bringing answers, (hopefully) a little fun, and a good read along the way, I trust that as you receive gifts of new technology to baffle and confound you, you will turn to me, your humble Geek columnist, for assistance. Meanwhile, I hope you all have a Merry and Geeky Christmas!
I don’t really have a good method of presenting reader feedback in the column. But I wanted to share with you some of the feedback I’ve received recently. It varies from quiet resignation to outright anger at the perceived wrong of my being canceled from a local publication.
Question: I don’t think I’ve been reading your column for 17 1/2 years but at least 10 years. I even submitted a question (which you answered on your column). Now, I check your column online to see if it addresses an area that I could use. They usually do (except for your columns about Cox farming out their email services). I’d hate to see you stop.
– James M.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Answer: Thanks for the kind words, James. Readers, James is commenting on my earlier ruminations about how the column has seemed to diminish in the wake of being removed from publication in newspapers where I live, here in the Florida Panhandle. I admit, James, it’s been pretty disheartening to see the remarkable drop in reader mail that has occurred since then. I’ve found a few new local outlets for the column, but I fear many people think I simply closed up shop and don’t know to do what you do and read it online.
Question: Just wanted to say that [Name Redacted] Stinks!!!!! I will continue to follow you either here or at Niceville.com. They must have done the same thing to Dr. Johns.
– Mary Ellen M.
Niceville, Florida
Answer: Thanks for that, uh, passionate input, Mary Ellen. I redacted the name of the newspaper you expressed your opinion about because, in all honesty, it wasn’t the newspapers themselves that chose to stop running my column. Rather, it was the decision of one managing editor who doesn’t even live in the panhandle area.
All I know is that when I contacted him to discuss the situation, he apologized and said he had plans to “take the newspapers in a different direction.” Okay. Is that direction away from what your readers actually want? Because the feedback I’m hearing says, I.G.T.M. is a valued part of people’s experience with their local newspaper.
I’ve gotten plenty of feedback saying it’s the first thing they turn to on the day it publishes. And yes, the same thing happened to Dr. Johns’ Pet Peeves column and Larry Williams’ Master Gardener column too. I’ve heard from numerous people who have said the removal of local columnists is the last straw and that they plan on canceling their subscriptions. Honestly, I can hardly blame them if they’re not getting what they want.
I’d like to think at some point in the future a more open person might realize they have done away with content that is of value to their readers and that the “different direction” they envisioned for the papers is just not what people want. Perhaps they’ll invite the column back into the fold. I would graciously accept such an opportunity.
I apologize for this self-indulgent column that probably didn’t contain any of the content for which you read It’s Geek to Me. I promise that future editions will contain technology stories and, if readers start sending in questions again, solutions to the tech problems that are plaguing each of us daily!
Jeff Werner, a software engineer based in Niceville, Florida, has been writing his popular “It’s Geek to Me” tech column since 2007. He shares his expertise to help readers solve everyday tech challenges. To view additional content, comment on articles, or submit a question, visit ItsGeekToMe.co (not .com!).
