How the internet has changed this hobby

[Phil Waterman]

Having just looked at the videos that Dave Gordon, Brad Mills and Keith Webb have posted in the last week or so made me ponder the change that the Internet has made in the “Hobby” “Obsession” of collecting military vehicles and in particular CMPs. All you have to do is look at the little data count at the top of MLU Forum index Members: 1,275, Threads: 6,256, Posts: 55,239 to realize the changes. When you think back when Bill Gregg and Bart Vanderveen started writing about CMPs the only way to exchange information was by publishing books or magazines in limited runs. Collection of information was done in large part by mail and by talking face to face with people. Peter Ford, John Merchant and a few others collected information about surviving CMPs slowly, basically one vehicle or one collector at a time.

When I got started (1978) it was nearly a year before I discovered that there were organized clubs concerning restoring military vehicles. It was nearly eight years after I got my HUP that I saw another CMP and met someone face to face who owned one of these strange creatures (1984). By then I had corresponded, or sent of letters, by regular mail to nearly every CMP owner listed in the MVCC (Military Vehicle Collectors Club) directory. I learned may things:
1. That letters with photographs of my CMP got far more responses than the same letter with no photos.
2. That people in the US would pick up the phone and call instead of writing a letter.
3. That phone calls are a very ephemeral or fleeting way of collecting information, unless you can write real fast and take notes
4. That people in Australia, Britain, Belgium, Canada, France and Holland (alphabetical order) in other words out side the US, wrote great letters included great photos and detail little drawings about how things fitted on CMPs.
5. I can remember being amazed to receive back responses to letters sent to total strangers in Australia in under two weeks time, it was clear that they had sat down and responded as soon as they had gotten my letter. It was also clear that people put real thought in responding to technical questions in there letters.

I’ve save many of these letters and photos that people sent me back then and wonder if I should try to put them in some sort of order and include them and the pictures that accompanied them up on my web site.

But back to how the internet has not only speeded up the flow and exchange of information, think of how MLU started most of the posts were just text, now with digital cameras the number of photos has jumped dramatically. Think of the number of times now some body will ask a question about how something fits or what something is and a response including a purpose taken picture(s) from half way around the world is posted online. Now we are adding video to our bag of tricks. The Forum format though really does help with understanding, it adds a reviewable list of posts something that many conversations could really use.

Guess this all boils down to thanks. Thanks to Geoff for hosting MLU and thanks to all 1274 of you for joining the fun and exchanging information.