Re: The BAA and new BCS membership requirements

Hi there,

I no longer work in IT in a full-time capacity but I am still a member
of the BAA and look forward to my copies of the Vector magazine
(although much is often over my head!). I still maintain a personal
licence for APL2 with which I "play" more as an academic exercise
(e.g. Game of Life, emulation of Enigma machine etc.)although I do
occasionally develop "useful" software for other business interests.

During over 30 years in IT, 20-odd of which were freelance, I never
wanted to be a member of the BCS. I certainly don't want to pay =A388 a
year to be a member of an organisation I don't want to be a member of,
in order to pay the BAA =A320 a year to continue to receive my copies of
Vector.

It strikes me that some accountant bod in the BCS has seen this as a
means of increasing the BCS's revenue stream with little effort -
bringing members of the Special Interest Groups into the BCS fold
kicking and screaming. I think it may have the effect of losing some
of the SIGs' members - which may make them less viable - and will
create an unwanted and quite unnecessary level of animosity. It all
seems a bit Big Brotherish - and there's more than enough of that
around now.

I've been a member of the BAA since the late 80s and I still want to
pay my BAA subs and get my Vector magazine. I'd even be happy to pay
an increased BAA sub as long as I didn't have to join the BCS.

</soap_box>