Why is DarkRose leaving Geocities?

Well, it's kind of sad, really... RoseWood started at Geocities. I am making this a plain green page with text because that is just what RoseWood was when I first created it. If it hadn't been for a friend who shamed me into trying Geocities' easy form-based HTML editor, I would never have really discovered the power of the web - and did I ever! Since I became addicted to HTML I have been transformed from an underpaid secretary frustrated with my job and barely making ends meet, to a very satisfied and well-paid web developer!! I have had my own web space and even my own domain for quite a long time, but I used to say that I would always leave RoseWood at Geocities out of gratitude for that beginning.

So why am I leaving now? Well... RoseWood always was intended to be a friendly place to rest in the net.woods and I think I have succeeded in making it that. And I certainly never minded Geocities advertizing on my page - after all, they gave me free webspace, it was the least they could ask in return. But in the old days the advertisements were plain, old, easy-to-load graphics. When the Geocities decided to start being "really cool" and making their Java-laced pop up windows, I wrote repeatedly and told them that these things were bloated and unfriendly to people with computers more than six months old. They slowed down the loading of the entire page and were so resource-greedy that I dared not keep more than one browser window open at a time.

The wunderkinds at Geocities never even deigned to reply.

I pointed out to them that Angelfire and Tripod and several other website providers use pop-up windows but that their pop-ups load fast and don't hang up my PC. Still no reply.

I noticed that when surfing the web, I would avoid clicking on links if I could see in the status bar that the link led to a Geocities URL - because I didn't want to wait for those slow, bloated, resource-hogging pop-ups to load and possibly hang up my PC. I told the fellows at Geocities about that, too, and suggested that they may be driving away other customers besides just me because of this.

You guessed it: they never replied.

Well, now my Mom - god bless her - has got WebTV (along with many other members of my family.) You should see what those pop-ups do to people who come to our sites via WebTV! I know that if the GeoKids did deign to reply to me they would say, "Well, these people should get real pc's with TI connections and at least 4billion KPB graphics cards..." But I have this funny, old-fashioned customer-sevice ethic that says that a company shouldn't expect its customers to do backflips in order to earn the rare privilege of doing business with it. I believe it's the company that should cater to the customers' needs and limitations!!

By the same token I don't want my visitors to have trouble visiting RoseWood - I want it to remain a friendly, simple place.

I am sure that the folks at Geocities could care less whether I go or stay, but that doesn't matter to me - what matters is the wonderful, friendly community of people who visit RoseWood, and I want you to always be able to keep on coming back!

So please feel free to drop by for a cuppa anytime...

Love,
DarkRose