Is festool going to have a FOG rep here?

[grbmds]

Regardless of all the other comments concerning this subject . . .Without a Festool rep directly connected and tuned into the FOG, there seems to be no point to maintaining the Ask Festool category. Who are we asking? Who monitors the questions? Who answers?

I'm not being sarcastic, ironic, or angry . . . just wondering why an Ask Festool topic would even remain on the FOG?

Just a final comment . . . It does seem that Festool has backed out of the customer support function more and more from the point in time when I bought my first Festool, which was maybe 5 - 7 years ago. For me, support was one of the important factors in buying a Festool; meaning support on the phone, online, and on the FOG. All of those are not as good as they once were. Tools are still great; some impossible to duplicate from other companies; durable, etc. Just the support isn't quite as good.

 

[hemlock]

Regardless of all the other comments concerning this subject . . .Without a Festool rep directly connected and tuned into the FOG, there seems to be no point to maintaining the Ask Festool category. Who are we asking? Who monitors the questions? Who answers?

I'm not being sarcastic, ironic, or angry . . . just wondering why an Ask Festool topic would even remain on the FOG?

Agreed.  It’s become a useless distraction.  Its disingenuous to keep it given its stated purpose on the FOG itself is not being served/met.

 

[ForumMFG]

...
Indicative that this type of forum is being usurped by social media.  I just started using Instagram in the last couple of months.  So much good information/videos/pictures available, including info on Festool.
...

Arguably forums in general are on a downward trend. The people running them keep selling-out to advertisements and spam bots. There are a few good ones left, like here and Sawmill Creek. Many of the automotive and fishing forums changed for the worse.

Is FestoolUSA putting their tutorials on Instagram instead of YouTube these days?  That might be worth me trying to figure out how to use it.

I agree 100% with this.  One of my other hobbies is saltwater aquarium fish and coral tanks.  I actually developed a business from this hobby where i aquaculture coral and travel to shows everywhere on the east coast and sell it.  Participation on the forums has also dropped there. 

I also agree with everything that has been said about Shane.  Back in 2007-2010 when i was very active on this forum, Shane was a great resource and i really enjoyed it and someone like him is definitely missed.  Since i started visiting this forum more often within the past couple of months i can see a few other issues that would discourage someone from wanting to use this site and the biggest one for me is, all the glitches when using a smart phone.  I have created a thread about this so we don’t need to hi-jack this thread and discuss it, but im telling you that the majority of people us a smart phone over a computer to surf the internet and participate in forums.  Navigating this website is a absolute nightmare, at least in my case.  Every time i click on something, it takes me to a page that i did not request and it happens every time.  I know its not my phone as this is the only site that i have this issue with.  And searching for good content does not work very well.  That might be my problem, not the site, but never the less. 

With a company like festool and with all the premiums we pay, you think they would have a strong presence here and spend a few bucks to update this site. 

 

[DeformedTree]

OK, I have to ask, seriously, WHAT ON EARTH does make you guys think this IS NOT social media??  [doh]

This is a place where everybody can talk to each other, in more detail than anywhere else because you can write 10.000 word posts if you want to.

You should not consider this is a place for direct customer support, though a guy like Shane did absolutely make it to be like that anyway.

OK, you got a response on FB in half an hour. Ever heard of telephone? Gets a response in seconds. I mean, if they're any good and the call center isn't outsourced to Mike in India.

I agree with you, but at the same time when someone says "social media" they mean things more like twitter and facebook.  It's along the lines of someone drinking water and saying they don't drink anything with chemicals in it. Their comment is nonsense, but in the end you know what the meant.

Any company who thinks facebook and the like is the answer is in trouble, in the end more people than not do not use those or refuse to do anything more than just view something.  What does help companies is having good websites with good information, that alone can cut down the need for forums, and reps answering questions.  Festools website is absolutely awful, this there is a need for forums. While sometimes contacting a company directly is the answer, often it's not what folks want to do if they are just exploring or gathering information. Additionally many/most companies make it very difficult to contact them (not saying this is festool, I've never tried, just companies in general).

For forum drop off, well, there is a lot more information else where out there.  While festool is still basically an unknown name to most people even people involved in tools and construction, woodworking very well are not aware of them (lots of folks do these things and never go online for anything about them).

As others mention there are more companies out there offering products, meanwhile in the US Festool removes products.  It's not like Festool has been rolling out new stuff to drive questions about stuff.

Being the interface to a company is not fun. Just gives people who are upset a target.

 

[hemlock]

Ask and ye shall receive? 
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/festool-announcements/a-message-from-the-festool-team/

 

[ChuckM]

OK, I have to ask, seriously, WHAT ON EARTH does make you guys think this IS NOT social media??  [doh]

OK, you got a response on FB in half an hour. Ever heard of telephone? Gets a response in seconds. I mean, if they're any good and the call center isn't outsourced to Mike in India.

In my book, everything found on the internet which includes exchanges is social media, including blogs and forums, not just instagram, youtube etc.

Forums are a dying species as technology advances itself and we, human beings, become more pictures and videos tuned. That's partly why written words (newspapers, magazines, etc.) have been struggling. The future lies in what's in your hand -- the cell phone or whatever new device that may come and replace it. I still do online shopping using my laptop, but only when I'm home-bound; the cell is where actions take place outside home.

 

[Michael Kellough]

OK, I have to ask, seriously, WHAT ON EARTH does make you guys think this IS NOT social media??  [doh]

OK, you got a response on FB in half an hour. Ever heard of telephone? Gets a response in seconds. I mean, if they're any good and the call center isn't outsourced to Mike in India.

In my book, everything found on the internet which includes exchanges is social media, including blogs and forums, not just instagram, youtube etc.

Forums are a dying species as technology advances itself and we, human beings, become more pictures and videos tuned. That's partly why written words (newspapers, magazines, etc.) have been struggling. The future lies in what's in your hand -- the cell phone or whatever new device that may come and replace it. I still do online shopping using my laptop, but only when I'm home-bound; the cell is where actions take place outside home.

That’s a shame.

(Not a criticism of you Chuck)

 

[egmiii]

In my book, everything found on the internet which includes exchanges is social media, including blogs and forums, not just instagram, youtube etc.

Forums are a dying species as technology advances itself and we, human beings, become more pictures and videos tuned. That's partly why written words (newspapers, magazines, etc.) have been struggling. The future lies in what's in your hand -- the cell phone or whatever new device that may come and replace it. I still do online shopping using my laptop, but only when I'm home-bound; the cell is where actions take place outside home.

That’s a shame.

(Not a criticism of you Chuck)

A terrible shame.

I've learned a lot about woodworking from YouTube. I'm glad it exists. But long form forums like this and the other FOG (Felder Owners Group), have provided far greater depth on topics specific to my circumstances. Those of us who still frequent them will grow, while others who gravitate to consumption focused\single sentence platforms will languish. The gap between the have and have nots will only continue to widen.

 

[Stone Message]

I still think that Festool have some brilliant tools but things are changing and it is very disappointing that they have chosen to neglect the FOG and, at the same time, disadvantage their long term distributors by dealing with the box shifters who often offer very limited customer service.

Come on Festool - do you really want this?

Peter

 

[Bob D.]

"WHAT ON EARTH does make you guys think this IS NOT social media"

Well, it IS a form of social media, and existed long before FB, IG, and the
rest, but I don't think it falls into the current definition of Social Media, at
least the way you hear it referred to currently. Ask anyone under 40 what
platforms make up Social Media and I doubt they will include online forums.

 

[bertv]

I still think that Festool have some brilliant tools but things are changing and it is very disappointing that they have chosen to neglect the FOG and, at the same time, disadvantage their long term distributors by dealing with the box shifters who often offer very limited customer service.

Come on Festool - do you really want this?

Peter

Sorted, I guess:https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/...e-festool-team/msg595560/?topicseen#msg595560

 

[Bob D.]

"Is FestoolUSA putting their tutorials on Instagram instead of YouTube these days?  That might be worth me trying to figure out how to use it."

I hope not, YT is the place for such content I think. Easier to access from various paltforms. I can sit and watch YT videos on my TV using the YouTube app right on the TV. Don't need a computer or smartphone or tablet.

 

[Gregor]

Video can't be searched, making it completely useless as a reference.

Also regarding facebook and similar kinds of brain AIDS: I hope it dies, ideally instantly, as everything endless-scrolling that is optimizing the feed for rage (as that gives more clicks) is a crime against humanity.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Video can't be searched, making it completely useless as a reference.

Also regarding facebook and similar kinds of brain AIDS: I hope it dies, ideally instantly, as everything endless-scrolling that is optimizing the feed for rage (as that gives more clicks) is a crime against humanity.

You sound a little cranky today  [unsure] but I agree with you  [mad]

 

[Bob D.]

"Video can't be searched, making it completely useless as a reference"

Not understanding what you saying here.

Do you mean it's not possible to search within a video, or that it's not possible to search for video on a specific topic.

 

[Gregor]

"Video can't be searched, making it completely useless as a reference"

Not understanding what you saying here.

Do you mean it's not possible to search within a video, or that it's not possible to search for video on a specific topic.

I can ctrl-F a text (or grep a whole bunch of them in bulk) for keywords to locate relevant sections quickly, skim or cross read it, copy&paste and print the sections I need later, yada yada...

All not possible with video as it's an inherently linear medium. While it has its uses the effective overall bandwidth, in regard to information density, is quite low - at least for me (but I'm a somewhat quick reader).

 

[peter halle]

Just as an FYI, this was announced about an hour ago on Facebook and I just happened to come across it.  Might be interesting for some.

[attachimg=1]

Peter

 

[sancho57]

Cool good info. I liked the last one.

 

[harry_]

Just a thought but maybe Festool could use the forum as an 'aggregator' of sorts.
Honestly I have neither the time or inclination to go traipsing all across the internet to see if FESTOOL has posted something new somewhere. A post from FESTOOL with a url however would be, in my opinion, GREAT!

Just a "Hey Sedge just dropped a new youtube video" or "check out this latest trick on instagram".

[2cents]

For clarity: I am not referring to links about Festool, I am referring to things from Festool.

 

[Bob D.]

Just a thought but maybe Festool could use the forum as an 'aggregator' of sorts.
Honestly I have neither the time or inclination to go traipsing all across the internet to see if FESTOOL has posted something new somewhere. A post from FESTOOL with a url however would be, in my opinion, GREAT!

Just a "Hey Sedge just dropped a new youtube video" or "check out this latest trick on instagram".

[2cents]

For clarity: I am not referring to links about Festool, I am referring to things from Festool.

If this were to come about it might benefit from a topic area of it's own.