News400 RPG Source newsletter

* Rant mode: ON   Soapbox mode: ON *

Some of the recent talk here on the list about brought to mind again a
lingering, simmering pet peeve of mine.

For the 15 years I've been in the IBM midrange, I have relied on the excellent
News400 magazine and Midrange Computing magazine (and their predecessors) to
educate me on the how-to's of AS/400 programming.  Then, a few years back,
News400 created "The RPG Source" newsletter, providing "practical tips and
techniques for more powerful programs" for $89 per year (10 issues).

How did this material become separated from the News400 magazine?  Was this
supposed to be another cash cow for Duke Publications?  I can understand the
"AS/400 e-Developer" and the "AS/400 Network Solutions" newsletters because they
appeal to a much smaller portion of the News400 audience.  But RPG?  A pure
guess here, but would it be overexagerrating to suggest that 90% of the News400
audience works with RPG?

So now I'm looking at $129 (out of my own pocket) per year for News400 plus $89
per year for "The RPG Source".  Am I the only one that blinked?  How many of you
out here on the list subscribe to "The RPG Source"?

And, no, $89 per year isn't going to break me.  But I get tired of getting
hammered with the "only pennies a day" crap.  (If I took advantage of all the
"only pennies a day" ads I see and hear, I'd be broke in a day!)  If the huge
majority of the News400 audience works with RPG, then why have a separate
newsletter?

BTW, I thought I remembered that Midrange Computing had a similar RPG
newsletter, but I could find no reference to it in a recent issue or on their
website.  Did they publish one before?  If they did, why did they stop?

* Rant mode: OFF   Soapbox mode: OFF *

Thanks, I feel better now.  But just a little bit.

- Dan Bale





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