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BRM May '18 + NEW-LOOK Digital Edition


SteveCole
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We're feeling rather pleased with ourselves this month. As many of you will know, we've been working hard to further improve the BRM Digital Edition by adding a load of extra content that lends itself to a digital magazine. But, we knew we could make it better... a lot better.

 

BRM May sees the launch of our new-look Digital Edition. You'll find a serious amount of extra content (as listed below), presented in a much clearer and easier-to-use format. We've even got interactive DCC Concepts and Metcalffe models adverts, both with video plus with a click of a button (or touch of a finger for all tablet users) you can buy the Bachmann Baldwin from Rails of Sheffield at the end of the review video.

 

If you've never tried a digital magazine (or BRM) this is the month to take a look. It's on-sale NOW! Click here to buy or subscribe.

 


 

Here's our Digital Edition cover

 

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EXCLUSIVE Digital Edition content this month…

- 49 extra layout images

- 2 layout videos

- 3 product videos

- 1 news video

- Full DVD footage included

- 2 bonus trackplans

- 1 extra layout article

- Free copy of Engineering in Miniature magazine

 

What's on this month's episode of BRM TV?

- 'Stylson Yard' - British Rail 1990s sectorisation era

- A tour of the LMS 'Patriot' Project Boiler Shop

- Tour of Historical Model Railway Society's archives

 

Inside this month's magazine

- Burnden Park (OO)

- Devonport Road (OO)

- Rise Park (N)

- Fullers Wharf (O)

 

- Plant a Potato Field

- Create a coal office + free plan inside

- Cakebox Challenge dioramas

- Make a derelict signal box

- How to finish 3D printed models

- Make a Decoder Tester

 

- Product news & reviews

- Reviewed: Dapol Class 68

- Reviewed: Murphy Models Road Vehicles

 

- N gauge stock spotlight

- Interview: Metcalfe Models

- Night time freight movements

- Prototype Inspiration: Class 68

- Tail Lamp - Lock's Sidings update 

 

EXTRA LAYOUT VIDEOS

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NEW PRODUCT UNBOXING VIDEO

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EXTRA LAYOUT PICTURES

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2 BONUS TRACKPLANS

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FULL DVD FOOTAGE

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BONUS LAYOUT ARTICLE

post-14186-0-64082100-1524211832_thumb.jpg

 

FREE COPY OF ENGINEERING IN MINIATURE

post-14186-0-23624300-1524210775_thumb.jpg
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There is a definite drive to get everyone on the digital subrsciption list, rather than the hard copy - much less costly to produce. No paper, no printing, no postage = more profits/and or more money to go out and about and get more content for the digital version.

 

I still prefer the hard copy though, and would happily pay a few pennies more if we could get the extra digital content that we are missing out on included with the free DVD. I dont like reading things on my Tablet or phone, but to watch it on a TV as part of the excellent DVD is something I would be happy with. 

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I agree with Ian.  I am disappointed that the article on Clarendon is part of the digital bonus content, particularly as the music accompanying the layout's coverage on the DVD recently was distinctly unflattering and rather off-putting if I am honest.

 

I am not opposed to progress per se, but I prefer to read my magazines on paper rather than faff around with laptops or tablets or whatever.

 

Chris 

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There is a definite drive to get everyone on the digital subscription list, rather than the hard copy - much less costly to produce. No paper, no printing, no postage = more profits/and or more money to go out and about and get more content for the digital version.

 

 

 

There is that but we do bring other costs into the digital version in producing the additional content as you say; it's an opportunity to do things which don't work on paper as well. The problem with getting all those extras onto the DVD is the timing, the DVD gets produced well ahead of when some of the other digital content is originated, particularly any review support material or even some of the layout interviews.

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There is that but we do bring other costs into the digital version in producing the additional content as you say; it's an opportunity to do things which don't work on paper as well. The problem with getting all those extras onto the DVD is the timing, the DVD gets produced well ahead of when some of the other digital content is originated, particularly any review support material or even some of the layout interviews.

Thanks Andy - I am not opposed to getting the digital content on a DVD a month or two or even three months later than those who get it via downloadable means. I get 5 magazines a month - 4 covering Railway Modelling and the other is Steam Railway. It takes me the entire month to read them all as most arrive in the post in the same week and most carry the same news articles anyway. I am not worried about reading or viewing articles first and I am not in the category of pre-ordering brand new announced loco's. Any hints/tips are shelved until I come across that particular task. 

 

I am also happy to pay for the downloadable content to be put onto a DVD provided on a quarterly basis via your offers page. e.g. £7.99 per quarter to get three months worth of content that I can watch at my leisure on my super sized TV is something I think is a great idea. 

 

I really look forward to getting my BRM mainly because its a great magazine, has excellent hints/tips and layout coverage, but also because it has the DVD that comes with it - icing on the cake as it were!

 

Out of interest, what is the ratio of print subscribers to digital now?

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Out of interest, what is the ratio of print subscribers to digital now?

 

I'd say it's still about 10:1 paper:digital but there's a definite trend happening.

 

Personally most of my mag consumption is now digital, not because of price, added value or even reading experience but because of ease of reference to go back to earlier content.

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I'd say it's still about 10:1 paper:digital but there's a definite trend happening.

 

Personally most of my mag consumption is now digital, not because of price, added value or even reading experience but because of ease of reference to go back to earlier content.

10:1 is pretty good considering the digital editions are still relatively new. I can see the attraction - storage being one and referencing earlier material being the other. However, it still cant beat the feel of a good magazine between your fingers!!! I read mine over breakfast before heading to work. To have to set up my laptop or tablet instead just doesn't appeal to me! 

 

Downloading it to the TV though is something I need to look into - however, more time looking at someone else's models is less time actually completing my modelling!!

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I went to digital for most of my magazines for simple reasons. In the case of BRM it was because I could not find it for sale locally.

 

As I live in the USA the paper versions of "foreign" magazines cost a lot more than the digital versions and usually take at least 6 weeks to arrive.

Thus I welcome the digital versions. I like that I can read a magazine, then archive it off my device. And then if I want to refer to it again re-download it.

 

Having bought 4-5 magazines a month for more than 30 years, there is no way you can keep all the older issues. (Without becoming a candidate for a TV reality show about hoarders!)

 

Some German magazines offer an "All time archive" of PDF files on a DVD, as well as annual disks with a full year's magazines. Ie. MIBA, Eisenbahn Journal.

 

I still get these on paper out of habit I suppose, but at the end of the year I buy the annual disks and recycle the paper copies. Both these magazines and Eisenbahn Magazin now offer subscriptions with downloadable PDF files, so I may switch to those in future.

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I don't have any problem at all with a magazine being available in either paper or digital versions. What I am not keen on is this idea of "exclusive content", whether it be in one or the other.

 

Unless there is something like video (not easy on paper but possible on an attached DVD), which doesn't work in both formats, having something like extra layout articles in one but not the other is just short changing one set of subscribers. I have a bit of an interest in this issue so will buy a copy. If Burnden Park wasn't in it, I would have purchased it for an article on Clarendon. But I just don't like reading things on a screen. If that is the only choice, I would rather not bother.

 

Something I did for the magazine, expecting it to be on a DVD, appeared on the "digital subscribers only" content. I don't do digital subscriptions and neither do any of my friends, who would have bought a copy to see it. The fact that what I have contributed will only be seen by one out of every 10 subscribers and by nobody who goes into a newsagent and buys a copy makes me feel as though my input was regarded as of limited interest and not worth a wider audience. I have raised this with Andy York and said that I was disappointed that the video wasn't on a DVD, so I still have hope that it will appear sometime.

 

Edited after a battle with autocorrect!

Edited by t-b-g
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But is it a natural trend or is it as a result of pushing? I’m one of those that stares at screens most of the day . I really don’t want to take my magazines that way

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makes me feel as though my input was regarded as of limited interest and not worth a wider audience. 

 

Far from it; it's just my filming/editing isn't to the same standard as the DVD guys!

 

 

Anyway; it was my lucky day as I don't get many one-take narrators!

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Far from it; it's just my filming/editing isn't to the same standard as the DVD guys!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF6dKg_0rxo

 

Anyway; it was my lucky day as I don't get many one-take narrators!

Well I thought your work on the video was superb ad made the old layout look at its very best! It deserved a wider audience and may now get one!

 

Thanks for posting it.

 

Tony

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The extra digital pages have been inserted (seemingly at random) throughout the magazine. As these extra pages aren't numbered it's messing up the digital index (the scrolling thing at the bottom of the screen on Pocketmags on iOS). Page 138 with Tail Lamp becomes page 172 in the index. It would make life easier if they were all at the back, they'd be easier to find as well.

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As someone who has been buying the digital editions of modelling magazines for a number of years now, mainly because they are easier to get living abroad and also it keeps her-indoors happy, (no magazines littering the place) I was very impressed with this months BRM edition

I think this is the way forward for digital, lots of interactive features and links to other online sites, of which there are more every month. If you don't do this you are not exploiting the potential of digital but merely reproducing an online version of your standard magazine.

At the end of the day the most customers can still choose which version they prefer to buy depending on their requirements

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I'd say it's still about 10:1 paper:digital but there's a definite trend happening.

 

Personally most of my mag consumption is now digital, not because of price, added value or even reading experience but because of ease of reference to go back to earlier content.

Andy,

Tried it for 12 months and never again.

Can't work out how you can use the digital as reference as I found more often than not, I had to re download the issue again.

But that was just one issue I had. I like a lot of others need it in the hand to read.......the screen is not for me!

 

Khris

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Really enjoying the digital edition. Looks really smart on my screen and the extra content is now much more worth while.

 

If you could start having a catalogue of articles, that would be the icing on the cake!

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I thought Atlantic had a good deal with their digital editions as you got access to the archive of Garden Rail. Sadly it seems Warners didn't support that inovation

 

I understand that since we use Pocketmags for the digital editions, it's not practical. We only supply one digital edition to Pocketmags - they handle the distribution and we don't, and can't have because of data sharing restrictions, a list of digi subscribers.

 

The idea of offering a shared digi/paper subscription has been discussed many times, but isn't (at the moment) practical. If we developed our own digi App then this might change, but then everyone would complain that they had to download a new App for every different title and we'd have to pay for development and support costs rather than leaving that to a company who does this all the time. 

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But is it a natural trend or is it as a result of pushing? I’m one of those that stares at screens most of the day . I really don’t want to take my magazines that way

 

If you've been on a tube train recently, you'll notice very, very few paperbacks or magazines being read, but loads of people staring into screens. Once, every commuter read a paperback book. You could tell the regulars, they had the thing open within seconds of boarding.

 

The market is gradually turning digital. I prefer paper, but can see the benefits of both. Warners, with a great, big printing operation as part of the company, will hang on to paper, but can't ignore the future.

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If you've been on a tube train recently, you'll notice very, very few paperbacks or magazines being read, but loads of people staring into screens.

Although, of course, from taking sneaky looks over shoulders, those people staring at screens aren't reading (books or mags) but playing games, watching videos or fiddling on social media. I guess the attention span to read a book these days is beyond many now.

 

G

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Although, of course, from taking sneaky looks over shoulders, those people staring at screens aren't reading (books or mags) but playing games, watching videos or fiddling on social media. I guess the attention span to read a book these days is beyond many now.

 

G

 

It all depends if you consider reading a book to be more worthy than anything else. Perhaps then you need to consider if that book would be even more worthy if it was in Latin. And in a particually difficult to read typeface.

 

Travelling on the tube is bad enough without someone telling you you should be doing something "improving" rather than just enjoying a bit of mindless downtime in a way that suits the person doing it. There is also the argument that we are information seekers and our brains get a shot of dopamine every time we find a new "fact" - it's one of the reasons social media is adictive.

 

That said, despite model railways being my job, I'm still loath to read a magazine in public. Partly because people think you are a bit odd, and partly because at least some of those who wouldn't, but would take it as a cue to come over for a chat, ARE a bit odd. Reading on a device though solves the problem. 

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It all depends if you consider reading a book to be more worthy than anything else. Perhaps then you need to consider if that book would be even more worthy if it was in Latin. And in a particually difficult to read typeface.

 

 

I'm not making any judgement on what is more worthy, merely reporting that most people seem to do little reading of text on their screens. 

 

G.

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It's convenience for me. I often get 10mins here and there to read, with the digital editions it's there, ready for me. I've 3 devices that normally have the latest magazine sync'd too.

 

If I had a paper copy, it's never where I want it.

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