From Usenet; original post from Google Groups:
The Google Grouper posted:
Good Evening Everyone - just got gmail and am unfamiliar with it. Can someone please explain how to download files and pics that r posted on a site. Thanks for your help
The first response was:
What "site"? Gmail is a web-based email client, not a file-sharing application or a web browser
The core of the issue was added by another poster:
I think I can see a pattern emerging. People sign up for "Gmail", thus getting a "Google account", and start to wander about Google. They discover "Google Groups" and assume that it is a 'feature' of "Gmail" (which it is not). Within "Google Groups" they inevitably find usenet newsgroups, such as this one, and immediately leap to the horribly wrong conclusion that these newsgroups are a Google service (which they are not) which they are accessing through their "Gmail" account (which they are not).
This particular newbie seems to know that there are 'binary newsgroups' out there somewhere (although doesn't know exactly what they are), and thinks that it should be possible to get to them using "Google Groups" (it is not possible). Mistaking "Gmail" for "Google Groups" just adds another twist to the spiral of misinformation and confusion Google are weaving.
Great site Blinky. Keep up the good work. I just killed 54 Google posts. The slaughter continues unabated. – James E. Morrow
I didn't think anyone could top the annual autumn spewage when college classes resumed--then along came the AOL/WebTV crowd. They're now morphing into GoogleGropers, like some biblical sequence of plagues. – Harold Stevens
I've finally had to join the Usenet Improvement Project, it took me a very long time to do so but I finally became convinced yesterday. I've been analyzing posts from GG and have to agree the percent that contain useful info is way too small to worry about. – XS11E
From my own informal sampling, the trash from Google _far_ outweighs the treasure and I'll gladly accept a few losses. – John McGaw
An ungodly large number of numbskulls use google groups and think they're posting to "Google Groups" when they're posting to USENET. – Magus
I finally gave up and I'm blocking google groups posters. Ever since I dropped Google Groups, the world has become a better place. – Evan Platt
