BRM Digital Version

[mikes rail]

I think it's part of a great plan to make us buy the paper based issue, pocket mags is a real paints get to work

[Andy Y]

I downloaded and tested it the other evening and all seemed OK, the same process as purchasing and accessing any mag with pocket mags. As posted here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80474-brm-february-2014/?p=1306913 it is clearly a sample edition, a vastly cut down sample version of the current issue. The full issue already appears to be our best-selling digital version to date.

[Redkiterail]

if you use android there is the google play newsstand which might work better than pocketmags

[LisaP4]

Had a look at this, as a digital edition would get me reading BRM regularly again (I've got every print issue of volumes 1,2, & 3, but only random issues after that), but apparently I can't just download it and read. It can only be read on certain devices or with certain programs that only work on certain devices, instead of a standardised file format that works everywhere (this is why standard file formats exist!). Plus I'd never actually get what I pay for, just temporary permission to look at what I paid for, which isn't the same thing.

 

It's utter incompatibility with everything is rather akin to buying a 17.1mm gauge '00' model from Manufacturer X, where they never send you the model, and only let you look at it via a certain brand of webcam.

 

Never mind the fact that if pocketmags/warners/etc goes out of business you're out of pocket for something you'll never see again.

 

Is a written work that tries to stop the purchaser from reading it even fit for purpose?

[stewartingram]

It is long winded, but you CAN download and save it as a pdf, using the latest Silverlight reader.

 

Stewart

[JCL]

Hi Lisa,

 

As I'm an expat, so I get the digital edition, and I can read the magazines on my pc if I want to by logging in to the Pocketmags website. I can also look at it on my iPad, which is one of the reasons for buying the digital copy. It also seems to be available for Android tablets, Kindle Fire, and the Blackberry Playbook.

 

If I lose my copy of my magazine from my tablet you can re-download it, even if my subscription has lapsed. If I have Windows, I can download the file to read with the off-line reader, so I can read it even if I am going somewhere that doesn't have the internet.

 

I know a number of people have had problems, and some are not happy with Pocketmags; it doesn't get a great rating on iTunes. I myself have had issues in the past, some of them quite big, but I've contacted Steve on this forum, and before that, Pocketmags customer support. Usually the problem is the inability to download a mag, or duplicate versions of the same issue popping up - sometimes because of Pocketmags, sometimes because of an issue with my iPad during the download) They've all been really helpful, and have managed to fix things in a couple of days if given the right information.

 

"...but apparently I can't just download it and read. It can only be read on certain devices or with certain programs that only work on certain devices"

 

It can be used on a lot of devices, even if not all. Gartner projects that in 2014 iOS and Android will have 90% of the tablet market. The operating system Meego was last updated nearly two years ago and looks about to fall off a cliff, and Microsoft Tablets and QNX seem to be about to increase market share from 5% to 19%. It's a shame it Pocketmags can't be read natively on a Linux computer, but it only has a 1.5% market share (Feb, 2014), so it is probably just not economical for the company to work on a Linux reader. Missing functionality is an off-line Mac reader.

 

Out of interest, what platform are you using?

 

"I'd never actually get what I pay for, just temporary permission to look at what I paid for, which isn't the same thing." - I'm not sure what you mean here. If you have a tablet you can download the file as many times as you like. In a way this is better than Railway Modeller where, if your subscription lapses you lose the ability to re-download your mags.

 

"Never mind the fact that if pocketmags/warners/etc goes out of business you're out of pocket for something you'll never see again." - you can download the magazines to tablets and Windows though, and after they are downloaded, they are yours to keep - if you are using a Mac, beOS or Linux I'm afraid you are out of luck.

 

I don't work for the company, and if you read some of my other threads you can I have been critical of digital mags in the past (not being able to print is just annoying). I've been reading digital mags for a long time now, and have managed to fall into different holes from time to time. I'd like to help, but I don't understand what the specific problem is.

 

cheers

 

Jason

 

Edited for spelling.

[paftrain]

I can't download the App update on either my iPhone or iPad - is there a problem?

[Theakerr]

Jason, thanks for the synopsis of the current state.  It does seem that a lot has changed/improved since I started this thread.  Unfortunately though i have a Mac so for me it looks as though nothing has changed.  I still don't see why they cannot put it out as a (secure) pdf file like some of the American Mags.

[JCL]

Ouch, I just typed out a long reply that's disappeared.

 

Cheers mister. I'll summarise what I said. Mags appear to run on what could be called a skeleton staff (see other threads on here and you soon get that impression). If this is true, I can't believe that they have a lot of in house IT expertise other than that dedicated to office systems and magazine production.

 

There are also a number of companies out there (Pocketmags, Zinio, etc) that provide a ready built platform on which to publish digital magazines. Each of the platforms have pros and cons and different levels of buggerment, or to put it another way, refinement. The first mag platform I had was Photoshop User on Zinio, which I hated. The image resolution was poor and it took an age to load - not great for an image heavy magazine! Since then I've been told that they've come on leaps and bounds, as have most of the others.  As time has gone on, each of the platforms have had to expand to take into account more and more devices with their differing operating systems, screen sizes, speed, etc. These companies deal with the revenue collection, magazine distribution, IT upgrades to that distribution, and importantly to the magazines, deal with the DRM. That is, the mechanism that stops people from making copies of the mags to give to friends. Using PDF files, the open, save, content copy, and print functions are easily restricted using instructions within the file that are passed to whatever reader you possess. The difficult one would be stopping readers from making a copy of the file that is then passed to friends. To stop this, as far as I'm aware, the device that the mag is opened onto must access the internet and a server "back at base" that is designed to work out who has what rights and of which device. Then there's the branding, user experience, etc that is used by the publishing companies to create their brands.

 

So the question is, would you sign up to a system that already exists and is available on a whole load of platforms and devices, or would you spend a fortune employing staff to create another platform from scratch, especially given that you would then have to keep it up to date and deal with security issues, etc.?

 

The only US mag I have digitally is Model Railroad Hobbyist. This doesn't count though as the magazine is free as it's paid for with adverts and they actively encourage you to make copies. What do the others do?

 

Some of the above is based on experience in IT, some on reading around, and some on "what ifs", but really you'd need someone from a magazine to answer definitively.

[Theakerr]

I would suggest that for specialist magazines, such as BRM, the populace that reads them is most unlikely to make multiple copies and is a spurious issue blown out of proportion by the various big media moguls.  Further, the loss of revenue from the small number that do would be negligible when compared to the reduction on operating costs when using a secure pdf (or other) format.  After all if we buy a hard copy there is nothing except the hassle, to stop you from making a copy.  I also understand that there is a mechanism such that the number of copies that can be printed (or copied) is restricted.  I know such restrictions can be got around but I come back to my first point about the populace that reads specialist magazines.  We are Railway modellers not Geeks (although some would question that)

[JCL]

We are Railway modellers not Geeks (although some would question that)

 

You can't have been in the 3D section or on the Silhouette thread for a while

 

As you summised, there seems to be a big difference between the magazine apps that were available a few years ago and those that are available now, and a difference in the editorial policies. It wasn't long ago that mags were simply a digital version of a paper copy, whereas with some of them there are 3d panoramic shots of products under review, and videos of different subjects. Also, although some people might not think this if they are having problems, but the apps seem to me to be a lot less buggy than they were. Pocket Mags at one point was very prone to crashing during normal reading for example.

 

Of course, over here in North America where we are the Model Railroad Hobbyist and Railroad Modeller have taken two completely different tacks. I mentioned before that MRH has gone the "free to the reader" route, and were among the first to provide mags with heavy interaction (videos and the like), whereas RM went the other way and charge for pretty much everything they do. I stopped subscribing to RM a couple of months ago when I realised that they were generally rehashing old articles and when they started a new pay to play video platform which seemed to annex a part of the content you previously got for being a subscriber - I don't like nickel and diming so I'm on the "if I see something in it I like I'll buy it" path with them now. It will be interesting to see how they all get on. I wonder if there is space for a free British based online only, DRM free, railway magazine paid for by advertisers?

 

I can understand that if you aren't covered by the technology options it would be really annoying. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses over the next few years as it was only a couple of years ago that it would have been unthinkable that songs on iTunes would be DRM free. I'm not an advocate for the way things are being done by the way, just trying to provide some info on why it must be done like that.

 

My only annoyance at the moment is that I've re-subscribed to Model Rail only to find out when opening the first mag that I could have got 50% off on the digital subscription that I'd just bought - that I couldn't see beforehand because I hadn't got a subscription! I might head on over to the Model Rail thread now and see if anything can be done about it. :-/

[JCL]

I can't download the App update on either my iPhone or iPad - is there a problem?

 

Hi Paul, if it helps, if I have a problem downloading the BMR app, and you have no problems downloading other apps from the iTunes store I would PM Steve1980 (I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do, but Steve is very polite about it) or get in touch with Pocket Mags.

[paftrain]

Hi Paul, if it helps, if I have a problem downloading the BMR app, and you have no problems downloading other apps from the iTunes store I would PM Steve1980 (I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do, but Steve is very polite about it) or get in touch with Pocket Mags.

Thanks for the offer, but for some reason it has now suddenly decided to work ok. It was strange, though, as other apps were updating with no problem.

[hallmrh]

Like many others I have been unable to download my 6 month digital  BRM subscription, all I see is the free sample edition having paid my £13.99. I wish now I had simply purchased the hard copy version each month. My issue is currently with the pocketmags help desk for resolution and hopefully they will sort it out otherwise I will be requesting a refund. In any event I will not be renewing my digital subscription, its a confidence issue. 

[RedgateModels]

Just spotted an issue, the red i captions only display in two page mode AND disappear when you zoom in to read them!

 

Tablet specs as before Steve

[Andy Y]

Just spotted an issue, the red i captions only display in two page mode AND disappear when you zoom in to read them!

 

Tablet specs as before Steve

I had that when viewing in landscape format but it worked fine in portrait format, it sounds like that's the opposite way around.

[Peter Beckett]

The only problem I have at the moment is bookmarks. The last update to the Hornby Mag app has lost the ability to bookmark. I have sent countless reports to Pocket Mags but nothing fixed yet. I had the same problem with BRM but only needed a couple of reports and the problem was fixed in the latest update to the BRM app. Looks like the Hornby app people don't work as fast as the BRM mob

 

Peter

[Izzy]

I had that when viewing in landscape format but it worked fine in portrait format, it sounds like that's the opposite way around.

 

Staying in Sydney for a while I thought I'd try a digital version. Works fine on my son's borrowed Mac, but on my android Galaxy Tab none of the enhancements work in any format.

 

Izzy

[Gary_Leeds]

I would love to be able to have a dual subscription like the Model Rail subscription where I pay full price for the print copy but then pay a LITTLE extra and get the downloadable version as well. Are there any plans to offer a dual subscription?

[JohnR]

How do we see the Simon Kohler interview? I have downloaded my usual copy of BRM, but cant find a link? Which page is it on?

[Andy Y]

How do we see the Simon Kohler interview? I have downloaded my usual copy of BRM, but cant find a link? Which page is it on?

It should be on the Editor's page just below Ben's signature.

[JohnR]

Thanks Andy. Its not showing up in the Flash version on Pocketmags that I normally use, but its there on the Silverlight version.

[Izzy]

Well, having now tried a digital version, if you'll forgive me, in the format that is currently used, a digitized copy of the printed mag, I'll stick to the printed one. I can see the advantage for those living outside the UK as regards costs, and especially as here in Sydney BRM is far more than other mags at $14.20 Aud, the Railway Modeller being $8.90 Aud and Hornby mag $10.70 Aud, while having a current mag issue is always helpful. However, to my mind reading mags online really needs a dedicated web page format. Zooming in for photo detail is handy, trying to read type dotted around a printed page format less so, but turning things around to see pages in horizontal view on anything but a tablet awkward to say the least.

 

Only my view of course, we are all different.....

 

Izzy

[sjrixon]

BRM are clearly pushing the digital edition and I can also understand why it's mostly the same as the printed copy, the production costs of the two would probably outweigh the saving. 

 

I have to say, it's case of what works for you. I'll admit, there is nothing nicer for me than reading a printed magazine and I'm a very technical person (Work in IT). But I love having the accessibility, my android tablet lives with me most of the time, so when I have a moment, I can read for a bit, that would not be possible if the magazine was sat at home.

 

I think the big frustration is the technology could still be better. This is going to be more down to pocketmags than anything BRM can control though, but maybe can influence?

 

I think my biggest complaint, why can't you click any picture and open full screen? I like the map page of engine wood, but let me click each picture and see it full screen, this would be a small change, but a huge step forward.

[stewartingram]

I still maintain that a digital edition should be a downloadable pdf which you can then store at home - an electronic version of the pile of mags in the loft.

I had a 12 month subscription to BRM digital, found it to be a pain to access so gave up. Since then I've bought a couple of odd issues, and noted that the online reader has changed. Still a pain to do this, but you can download individual pages as a pdf now. It took time but I got them stored, so no more need to read online anymore, and they are safe in my store.

Technology needs improving before I buy (m)any more though.

 

Stewart