No. It's necessary because I thought it was a funny and lighthearted way to express my complete and total disagreement with your post. No offense was intended.
Nah...my opinion has plenty of weight, as does yours, regardless of whether or not I tack a funny little smiley to it or not.
The fact is, I have spent quite a bit of time and typing energy over the last year or so expressing my opinion on this topic and at this point I'm really not keen on engaging in a well-reasoned, pseudo-intellectual dissertation on the merits or drawbacks of onboard audio. Much less get into an argument over opinion. I'd much rather just toss out a funny smiley, state my disagreement and move on.
Although I thought the use of that particular smilie was inappropriate, I was more baffled than offended by the post in general, as well as by the number of other "ditto," "I agree -- just your opinion," etc. posts that others made. (So my general response on this matter wasn't directed just at you.) I don't quite understand why this particular issue seems to continue to incite such a firestorm of strong reaction, more than 1,000 posts into the thread -- you would think I'd said "lost children should be fed to the gators" or something.
It's one thing to express your opinion the first couple of times an issue comes up; it's another to feel like you have to put that same opinion on the record every time someone expresses a contrary view, even if that means saying "this refurb is a huge fail" (or words to that effect) countless times over a course of months and months. Doing that is bound to make someone feel tired and worn down after nearly a year of debating the same subject, because there's always going to be someone new to say something you disagree with.
Personally, I don't see the need to always state my disagreement just because someone expresses a view that I don't agree with. (If I did, I probably would have made more than 130-some posts by now over the last few years.) At some point, there just isn't enough time in the day. If I've already made my point of view well known and someone else comes along with a statement I disagree with, for my own sake I'd probably just say, "eh, whatever" and move on, rather than feeling compelled to drop a curt post and a smilie that could potentially be misinterpreted or offend, even if I don't intend it to.
Just my opinion, of course.
