Online magazines

[Andy Y]

Following up on the decision of Rail Express to follow other prototype magazines to made available as online copies I thought it would be interesting to seek opinions on this development.

 

Railway Magazine and Heritage Railway publish online via Zinio with online subscription discounts of 35-40% against the shelf cover price and a lower price for online individual issues than the paper counterpart.

 

The saving obviously comes from eliminating the print and distribution costs and retailer margin.

 

What I like is that the Zinio reader gives a basic preview of each page for those who stand in front of the shelves smudging the text with thumbprints.

 

Has anyone used or subscribed via this method and what are your thoughts?

 

There's not enough modelling in Rail Express for me to have any interest at the moment but I think it's only a matter of time before more relevant modelling magazines step into the arena.

[Red Baron]

I think as we diverge in the IT market into creative (PC/Desktop) vs consumption (iPad / smartphone / internet ready tv) type devices.... we will see more and more media go online.

 

zinio is particularly good on a touch enabled device... and whilst im not remotely interested in eco crapola one would assume that the carbon foot print of magazine production is comedy to say the least, and i would rather burn my carbon going fast on or in a train plane car etc..

[Angelus]

My better half has been doing this for some time as due to her disability it is difficult to hold a magazine for any length of time. If she could she would subscribe to all of her magazines this way.

I regularly download Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine and like to read it in this way.

When I look at my piles of magazines that I have collected over the last 40 years I can see a huge space saving bonus and finding that elusive article would be so much easier.

If I could I would subscribe to all my magazines this way too.

The only downside would be having to hold the laptop whilst in the smallest room!

 

Terry

[cnw6847]

I would never suscribe to online magazines, I personally don't like reading off a screen to much, forums are fine for me but not longer articles.

I don't want to switch on the computer to flick through a mag.

[Pennine MC]

The only downside would be having to hold the laptop whilst in the smallest room!

Get a Netbook, it balances on your knees.

I believe

[amdaley]

I would happily subscribe to an online version of present magazines provided that

(A) They were available at a vastly reduced price.

(B)The content of such magazines would be available online for as long as subscribers required & could be downloaded or articles printed out as required.

[Welly]

 

The only downside would be having to hold the laptop whilst in the smallest room!

 

And no immediate way of expressing displeasure with a particular article either.....

[trisonic]

I'm not sure. I get a tactile pleasure from holding glossy magazines (no not that kind) and being left handed tend to read them backwards.......my HD Apple screen is better than most, I suppose but I spend too much time in front of it already (I compose and perform music with it).

Best, Pete.

[Andy Y]

A number of online magazines have been published, particularly in the IT dept. AFAIK, none survived....

 

This isn't a case of online only mags V, it's existing paper mags making copies available online. There's a definite difference in that.

 

 

 

[PhilH]

For good or bad a lot of my life is run via my computers - banking, 95% of my shopping, communicating with friends via skype, etc., etc. I just find it so much easier and it frees up a lot more of my time to do the things I want to do.

 

I see no reason not to extend this to magazines - most magazines of all genres that I have bought / subscribed to over the years only contain a maximum of about 20% content which I would wish to keep for future reference. It's so much easier if this content is stored on somebody else's server which I can access from my laptops, and if I need a hard copy I can simply print the relevant page(s).

 

So - it's a big thumbs up from me for online, well, anything really.

[TheDukeOfWellingtons]

Having just reluctantly consigned the last five years' worth of Model Rails, Tractions, and Rail Expresses to the recycling sack I would be quite happy to subscribe to on-line versions, assuming that back copies would be available to access on-line indefinately. And I would have to have a waterproof laptop so I could still enjoy my reading in the bath!

[stewartingram]

I buy about 9 mags per month (!) mainly because of keeping a database of preserved stock up to date with reports from them. Having said that, a house move about 8 years ago, put me behind with the updates. Also the advent of a couple of good online database has rather negated the need for my own database. However I still but the magazines, storing them in the loft. Slowly I can catch up with my own database, and they are a damn good read. Now can anyone answer the question for me - those mags that have gone online, can one download them and then store on the HD/DVD for future reference? It would save me a fair bit of money that way!

[Dave47549]

.

[The Stationmaster]

While I 'read' a national daily newspaper online (mainly because it would be a waste of money buying it - and 'no' it isn't 'The Sun') I do like a bit more 'permanance' in a magazine, something to refer back to or have a look through while watching tv or listening to the radio and there is that tactile thing already mentioned above.

 

I'm not quite sure how the ad pages would work out online either - can I just ignore them by turning over X number of pages I wonder? And can I read an online version anywhere without having to lug stuff around with me - in that respect a printed mag is very convenient.

 

As a 'Model Railroader' subscriber (at the moment) I get their online update version and I have found that once the novelty had worn off I tend not to take much notice of. So I remain sceptical, and I do wonder about accessing back numbers?

[coachmann]

The only downside would be having to hold the laptop whilst in the smallest room!

 

Get a Netbook, it balances on your knees.

But can you wipe your backside on it?

[Poggy1165]

I used to buy tons of different magazines. Now I am down to MRJ and I'm not as fond of that as I used to be. (I also get my various society journals, GOG Gazette does a bigger job for me now than Railway Modeller could hope to do.)

 

I suppose if a good magazine - I am thinking along the line of the old Modellers' Backtrack - was produced, and catered for the sort of obscure stuff I found interesting, then I might be tempted if the price was right. And for the price to be right, it would have to be dirt cheap.

 

With all those conditionals, I think I'm a fairly unlikely customer.

[Savoyard]

I bought the online edition of Rail Express this morning, whilst I currently subscribe to RE I may now consider renewing with the online edition so I thought I would give it a try. I am in the middle of trying to sort out the mountain of magazines I have in the front bedroom, I found out it acutally has a floor this morning! I am reluctant to recycle them just incase I throw something out that may be useful, but I think I will just have to just accept I havent the time to sort them and they will have to go to make room so online editions is a positive way forward, I will be able to keep all my furutre magazines without the storage problem.

 

The advantage with Zinio over other online magazine options is that I can read it on my PC or iPad, and on the PC version I noticed the option to print off a page so you can get a hard copy if needed.

 

I have for the last few years bought RM annual back issue CD, all the issues are in PDF format and recently transferred them onto my iPad which means I have some reading material for a long journey without the weight! I just wish other model rail magazines would follow RM example.

 

Peter

[Dave777]

Last year when RMWeb reached the 5 year mark and there was a thread about where we see the hobby being in 2020 I suggested that the monthly magazines would be downloaded to our wi-fi enabled, touchscreen iPad-a-likes on the day of release, and their contents are automatically added to an index that builds up over time, allowing you to access any article with a mouse click.

 

Not sure if the page layout and 'structure' of a magazine would need to be changed (ie, is one format/structure suitable for both printed and online versions?) but to me it seems the future, if only for the reduction in physical storage space that they would take up. Another possible avenue might be the ability to buy specific articles singularly or to customise your magazine to suit - don't want pre-BR articles? Fine, they won't be downloaded. The traditional 'mix of all sorts' magazine as we know it might disappear, although obviously it would require the magazines/publishers themselves to develop these new routes.... which of course may mean it never happens.

 

 

Another benefit will be the ability to read through a thread titled 'Model Rail Issue 387' without there being any comments of 'My subscription issue hasn't turned up, it's an outrage', 'I refused to buy it on principal this month because it was in a plastic bag, it's an outrage' and 'The quality of paper is appalling, it's an outrage'...

[coachmann]

Relaxing over a hard-copy magazine in the armchair still cannot be beaten as far as I'm concerned. While I have spent quite a lot of time on here during the past 8 weeks, reading off a screen is hard on the eyes and neck after a while. I skip all the long entries. Addly enough I find pictures break things up nicely.

[John B]

If online copies were offered on subscription, I'd buy MORE British modelling magazines.

 

Reason being, that due to obvious distribution costs, a subscription over here is more than double that in the UK. The odd single copies of magazines (usually Model Rail or Hornby Magazine) are triple the UK cover price. They don't appear to offer any significant subscription "bulk deal", either - unlike the French magazines that do (of which, IMO, Loco Revue and Voie Libre offer the current state of the art in "paper" based magazine publishing - way in advance of the British rags in content and quality, but that's another argument altogether).

 

Therefore, for cost reasons, I only subscribe to 1 UK magazine right now, and that's MRJ. I'd be tempted to another, at least, probably Model Rail, if it were available in an online format.

 

As to the online format, it would need to be of the quality of the quite outstanding Model Railroad Hobbyist - which I now enjoy more than (paper sub) Model Railroader...

[Nile]

This was news to me,so I had a look at the mag and zinio reader.It seems like a good system with no nasty DRM built in,so would be of use to me.I scan most of the mags I buy,before disposing of them,so would save a lot of work.The price for Rail Express looks good too.

The problem for me here is Railway Magazine.Not only does it look poor value compared to the others on offer,but this is a magazine I share with others,who lend me mags in return that I don't have to buy.I can't see magazine sharing working too well with this system for some time.Maybe when everyone has an ipad (or clone).

[coachmann]

I can see where this is going. When online magazines are popular and doing good business, the pop-up ads will begin to appear from box shifters, subscription departments, Viagra, Big Brother updates, celebrity gossip.........

 

You think this wont happen? I can just see an article on building a loco and ads will pop saying 'Did you know you can get wheels from....... and motors from.......'

[bmg]

Can I tick the box for 'I would be interested in online copies if they are free or paid for by advertising'

 

Unlike a few years ago I now buy very few magazines. The internet appears to cater for most of my reading and research requirements. Therefore, unless there was something really special about a paid for online subscription I would not be interested.

[PhilH]

You think this wont happen? I can just see an article on building a loco and ads will pop saying 'Did you know you can get wheels from....... and motors from.......'

 

Select 'Disable popups from this site' then.

 

I've just downloaded Model Railroad Hobbyist (for free) as mentioned above. Very good, one thing I found interesting and useful was their use of embedded video and sound effect clips to enhance articles - you get a much better idea of what the articles are all about using these.

[bmg]

Model Railroad Hobbyist is what I had in mind when I asked if I can I tick the box for 'I would be interested in online copies if they are free or paid for by advertising'

I like its style and the fact that it takes no room on my bookshelves.