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Re: E-Magazine option?

leo731 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:05:17 GMT

Interesting.

I too prefer the printed and polished product that is the published hardcopy magazine. It is actually easier for me to read as I can take it anywhere and read it in positions that do not require me sitting up. I can mark it as I see fit and leave it and return later without having to fire up the computer as well.

I agree with Jeff. The lack of editorial oversight is missing in many of e-zines and the rush to post often allows errors and unsupported evidence to proliferate.

Thanks but no thanks, I will stick to the printed word over the e-word.

L (stands for Luddite)

Re: E-Magazine option?

Karri Ferron — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:12:18 GMT

It's interesting that you mention an e-magazine. Research has often found that e-zines can be quite successful, but usually when there is no print counterpart. One normally ends up killing the other (either the e-zine never catches on, or it becomes so popular that it replaces the print version).

Re: E-Magazine option?

SDB777 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:38:40 GMT

I'll have to do that....thanks!

You got a link for the download?

Re: E-Magazine option?

DaveMitsky — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:09:09 GMT

I completely agree with Jeff.

You may want to read Bob Naeye's editorial in the August Sky & Telescope on the decline of science journalism.

Dave Mitsky

Re: E-Magazine option?

SDB777 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:30:54 GMT

Interesting....

Not sure I agree with everything you stated but I have always kept an open mind about things. I just wish I fell into the 'younger group' you mention!

So I dug into the closet and pulled out a copy of Shutterbug, dated from July 1989 and opened the electronic version in Zinio Reader of Shutterbug from July 2009. I picked out a random article and compared the writting, grammer, and quality of the photo's used to relate the topic. The difference? None. Both articles were very informative and well written, with no spelling errors.

Not sure I understand your thinking on "Making a truckload of spam", as it would only be 'spam' if the writter allowed him/herself to produce a article that was substandard. And that could be done as easily in a printed version.... I would suspect the advertiser's that pay for space would like to have the ability to have a web address linked to their ad(maybe pay a little more for that).

Don't get me wrong here, I love printed magazines, they are often late on delivery, ripped by the overpaid workers at the post office, wet, pages stuck together(from being wet), or never show up. None of which has happened with this publication(crossing fingers) yet. Hopefully as a two-year subscriber everything will go smoothly, and I can re-new and keep getting informative articles....either way.

Scott (wishing I was overpaid now) B

Re: E-Magazine option?

chipdatajeffB — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:53:49 GMT

There are electronic versions of many of the articles online already, and more are available to subscribers. The surest way to see the ratio of electronic to print articles increase is to subscribe (since that pays the bills).

In my opinion, a switch to an all-electronic format would lower the quality of the magazine. I base that on a few decades of watching such changes in general, and in science publications in particular. The first thing to go is editors, followed by artists and designers. Those folks are integral to the accuracy, consistency, and art of the magazine, in my opinion.

I also have been working with electronic preproduction and press operations now for nearly 40 years, from newspapers, to technical publications, to magazines. In that period, I have watched the steady decline of skills related to print which are (in my opinion incorrectly) thought by management not to be "important" enough to continue once a publication goes electronic. I think this is largely because totally electronic production is presumed to be (and in many cases demonstrated to be -- especially if you remove "roadblocks" like editing and graphic design) very much faster. It is therefore assumed to be much more efficient.

In my opinion, it is often more like producing spam by the truckload than producing fine dining by the meal.

I get a lot of argument from friends in the Web design and electronic production business over my position on this. What stands out most remarkably in these arguments is that most of the folks who argue on the "other side" are very much younger, with very little experience in both methods of publishing. I think the more you know about both sides, the better you're equipped to deal with the issue when it arrives on your doorstep. And it will, sooner rather than later.

Let's not hasten in that direction ... just my

E-Magazine option?

SDB777 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:42:59 GMT

I currently subscribe to many downloadable magazines(Zinio Reader), and I was wondering if any thought had been given to making Astronomy available to subscriber in that format? When reading these type of e-magazines, I don't have to wear glasses in order to see the print clearly. And if I see a article I'd like to scrapebook, I just print it out and do so. The same could be done with the pull out charts.

The savings on mail delivery could be used to get more goodies to write reviews about...

Just a thought...thanks for your time.

Scott (think out loud) B