You make my point - LuLa would be a much poorer place without you; it's not just about the articles and paying subscriptions.
And you make
my point: something that has been rattling around in my head—sigh, lots of loose stuff up there these days—since I started reading the threads about the new management.
For me, the primary value of LuLa is the forums: the exchange of views among people with a common interest but different perspectives. I particularly enjoy their international character. (I do wish more posters would enter a location in their profiles, at least the country; it helps readers understand—quite literally—"where they're coming from." I can't imagine why anyone who is not in a witness-protection program would be reluctant to do that.) We're a diverse and articulate lot, with interesting perspectives and often strong opinions, but that common interest provides a basis for bridging the experiential, geographical, and philosophical divides.
To be sure, I've found some of the more formal articles to be instructive, particularly Jeff Schewe's and Michael Reichman's video tutorials, from which I learned a great deal when I was first trying to master the digital medium, Mark Segal's printing reviews (although they sometimes go over my head), and the occasional photo essay—although, as a general rule, I've found the pictures posted in the forums to be more engaging than those posted on the start page.
But it's the people on the forums, especially the technical experts but also the more opinionated and provocative ones, that induce me to check in almost every day.