| | | | | In lugnet.faq, "Robert Munafo" <munafo@gcctech.com> writes:
> Why would you mention not putting AFOL and LUGNET on the same shirt? What's the
> connection? Is there some kind of general rule about mixing non-trademarks with
> trademarks?
Probably not worth mentioning. It's a personal thing. I cringe every time
I see term AFOL because it looks like AOL and, as the person who coined it
several years ago pointed out, it looks like "a fool." It also reminds me
of at least two army acronyms. I can't help thinking all of those every
time I see it. It's too bad that ALF (Adult LEGO Fan) conjurs up visions of
the 80's sitcom of the same name.
Another reason was that, although LUGNET currently is most appealing to
adults (and this is by design at this stage in its development), it's really
not an adult-only thing. We don't want people to get the wrong impression
that it's only for adults, because it's really for everyone regardless of
age.
--Todd
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Thanks Todd, I get it now. It's good to hear from you since it's your trademark
we're talking about (-:
I happen to dislike "AFOL" personally because it reminds me of "SMOF", "secret
masters of fandom", (which is a card in the Illuminati trading card game), a
reference to sci-fi fans, and that reminds me of sci-fi conventions.
However, I do want to point out that I have used the acronym just once, in one
of my FAQ answer submissions, this one:
http://www.lugnet.com/faq/?n=557
because the phenomenon I was describing is, as far as I can tell, universal to
adults and fairly rare among children. That is to say, children seem to be a
lot more creative and flexible, and undemanding, regarding the appearance of
their LEGO creations than adults. I think it's because adults are too picky.
- Robert Munafo
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