Ziff Davis is dead to me...DEAD

Dear Ziff Davis Publishers,

Much like I take time out of my day to hit 'Report Spam' on each of the emails your conglomeration sends me for the past 5 years, I am taking time to write this entry. I have just finished writing a filter that sends every message with the word 'Ziff' in it to my email trash. There, that should FINALLY get me off all your email lists. Yes I know, there is no actual conceivable way to actually get off a Ziff Davis mailing list. You hit the link to unsubscribe that is provided in the email, it sends you to a form where you can unsubscribe. You fill that out, and next page of the form tells you it may take 7-10 days to fully remove you from the email list. Sure seems like a long time, being that we are part of the INTERNET AGE. But I wait, hell I've marked "10 days" on the calendar each time I've done this. Yet, the messages, continue, every, day.

Sure, I hit the "mark as spam" button but then I realized, you will never be blocked as spam since your company is, 'somewhat legitimate.' - Because you provide a unsubscribe link.

You see it takes 7-10 days for light to travel from one coordinate in the Ziff Davis Borg Hive to the emailing list coordinates. No wonder my request gets lost. It wasn't really lost, it was assimilated!

I wouldn't write this if I didn't care who you've turned into. I used to enjoy reading each complimentary issue of eWeek back when our office was still 'pooling modems' to get everyone on the internet. You were pretty spammy then with 4-5 subscription cards falling out of each issue. You were pretty spammy telling me every 2 weeks for 2 years that unless I fill out your online form that I will never get an issue of eWeek again.

Around that time, I really hoped you were serious, as we had moved to a DSL line at the office for internet. My need for news concerning my industry was being taken care of by multiple sites 'run by amateurs'. Sure, the amateurs weren't even close to acting like a journalism unit most of the time, but they had the story in front of me as soon as they wrote it. By the time eWeek showed up in the mail, I had already read all the stories. Amateurs or not, they beat your professional pants off in doing what news should do: BE NEW.

Eventually you got a clue and stopped sending me threatening messages and eWeek issues. I'm surprised you didn't send your mother over with a pie to try and mend our differences really.

While I'll probably eat the pie she brings over, I'm definitely not going to forget how you treated me these last few years. You didn't grow with me, ignored me, and we grew apart. I let go of this relationship, I think it's time you move on too.