My 2 cents
I love vintage Kirbys as they are beautiful machines, however, in terms of overall efficiency, the Dyson would be the clear winner. Now with a more modern Kirby G-series or Sentria, the outcome would probably be different; I can see a potential advantage there; in fact, I'd probably bet the Kirby this time. Although until I can actually get up front with the machines next year and experience it firsthand, I won't know for sure. Not a 40+ year old vintage one, though.
Following up on what Derreck said, posts like this one are a perfect example of children not knowing how a particular machine works. If they did, they would not be posting anything like this in the first place. I fully understand and agree completely with what Tom G has said (both to me personally and in previous posts on here) about children posting on the forum (and another poster with the mentality of a 12-year-old...) and to find that it is for the most part TRUE. The irony lies in the fact that children are causing most of these arguments due to the fact that they are posting their opinions as FACTS. When everyone else was simply guessing, whether or not they knew it, Derreck set the record straight with a truly FACTUAL post. I also know by experience...I had to wait a few years until I was 18 to join the VCCC proper, but then (due to reading up on machines AND buying them) I came on with a better understanding of the vacuum cleaner than I would have had a forum like this existed when I was 10 and I posted nonsense there. With age comes knowledge as well as experience.
Closing the forums off to dues-paying members would definitely keep the children who have no intention of joining as guests off and prevent this bantering (and also allow for some tongue-in-cheek or slightly off-color humor from time to time without getting chided for it), which is one of the many reasons I wholeheartedly support a private forum, or at the very least a members-only section with its own forum in addition to this one. I hope to voice my opinion on this at the meeting next year.
I find all of this interesting because when I was 10-12 years old, I was happily enjoying activities that someone of that age would enjoy (and getting helpful exercise in the process) instead of sitting in front of the computer posting on a message board. Hell, I thought a message board was something mounted to the wall that you tacked notes to (and I had experience with computers), but to quote Bob Dylan, I guess "the times they are a-changin'".
At any rate, kids should be kids while they still can...
--Austin
