Well, I'd typed this and hit enter, when my internet crashed. Try again...
Am I understanding coorectly, Joe, that the raw threads will always be available? I hope so.
I have some concerns about this, exp. in relation to the Songs Origins Permathread. I think one of the neat things about it is to see all of the different threads which have evolved for each song, kind of like an historical record of the Mudcat.
This seems to me, almost like taking back issues of a favourite magazine and cutting them up to paste the best bits into one condensed issue for each song. I guess that's not a bad thing, but I'm not sure I see where the way they are now is such a bad thing, either. I know there is a lot of non-essential stuff, but it is the Mudcat and there's never been anything quite like it before. If anyone gets smart and finally wants to do a study of its evolution, etc. it will be a bit difficult if there are no representations left of how it came to be. I think Philippa has pointed out a legitimate conern, too, about how folks who've started a thread may not be able to find their posting, again.