As usenet stumbles off into the night and FaceBook absorbs those who
find blurting out single phrase with a picture a great treade-off, Amy
Scattergood ponders the demise of Chowhound. I use to post
occasionally on Chowhound, and root around for answers to questions,
more frequently about restaurants than cooking. I even attended a
get-together with about 30 hounds, at a local restaurant. But I always
found the web interface a big hassle.

In fact it's likely the main reason that myriad discussion sites have
turned me off: Each has their own unique and incomprehensible user
interface which must be mastered so that you can spend 30 minutes
getting two minutes of info. Sunflower seeds produce more payback.

Usenet via google strikes me the same way. But many are cut off enough
from others (cooks in this case as well as humans with which you can
faux bond), that they don't mind the labor. The labor at rfc has become
simply unacceptable for the regular day-to-day involvement I've
preferred in usenet discussions. But I find no suitable replacement.
Period.

Seemingly an interface redesign has pounded a stake through the heart
at Chowhound in LA:

http://tinyurl.com/puyzkcv