Re: Thinner! -- MIDRANGE-NONTECH

Gary,

At 2/15/03 11:19 PM, you wrote:

Comments in-line
>   Unless I miss my mark, that's about 57% smaller!!  Unless you have
> statistics to show that most of that was not "real" content, I think that
> the total deliverable to the consumer has gone down *significantly*.


But, Mark. That's not an apples to apples comparison. How much more is
on the Web site now than then, plus how much more do you get in the
newsletters now than then. Look at the total package because that's what
you buy now. I maintain that if you look, you just might find that the
total deliverable has not gone down "significantly".

Are you saying that the paying magazine customers are funding the newsletters? Since they have their own advertising revenue I am assuming that that is not the case. Therefore connecting the content of the printed and e-letters is not valid. If the printed (paid) version is funding the free version, then I'm for putting most of it back into print.

>   Again we agree.  I just don't think that putting out the argument that
> they publish the "free e-newsletters" is valid.  It should not have any
> real influence on the printed version.

Huh? That's material that is NOT in the magazine because it's elsewhere.
Readers consistently rate Tech Corner at the top and want more things
like it. To honor their desires, we move a lot of material out of the
magazine and into the newsletters so that they get just that - MORE of
what they really want.

That's understandable, since the newsletters are free to the consumers! It makes sense to put the actual code online, so it doesn't have to be re-keyed. But I prefer the printed version when I'm studying a technique.

> 1)  Don't you think that if the public had access to the code that they
> would get more business?  Penton needs qualified eyeballs looking at their
> web site in order to sell their products and to display vendor ads.
>
> 2)  Even if you don't accept #1 as valid, the corresponding code for
> magazines that I *have* paid for should be available to me, whether I have
> a current subscription or not.

Well, it was made available to you when you had a subscription. If you
didn't take advantage of your subscription, is that Penton's
responsibility? Mark, there are real costs associated with this stuff.
The Web ain't free, you know. Not when you're the host.

You didn't respond to #1. This is the popular web model today, so restricting that content seems to be self defeating.

As to your statement, sure, you are technically correct. I just think that it's poor policy. If I didn't d/l it while I had my subscription all that means is that I didn't use the bandwidth during that time span. Using that bandwidth at a later date doesn't cost them any more. It's not very ingratiating to past customers that you may want to woo back.

>   The web is an excellent medium to pass along news.  Code and technical
> articles are much better suited to print, since it can be studied and
> stored for reference.  JMHO.

Mark, like you I like to see technical stuff in the magazine. However,
techno-folks aren't the only people that read the magazine. If the
technical stuff was only in the magazine (i.e., not on the Web for
download) would you still feel it best to have News on the Web and
technical in print? I think I smell a "cake and eat it, too" scenario! :)

Except for actual code (as I mentioned above), I would be fine with that. Please note, that news and industry movements (besides those of IBM that directly relate to the overall platform) are fairly time dependent. This means that by the time we've had a chance to read it in News we've either read about it on the web or is "old news" and is not especially relevant. It's just the nature of news in this fast paced, connected world.

You're asking for what you're interested in to be in the magazine. Nothing wrong with that, but don't forget there are other folks to please, too.

One of the complaints that I had often heard when MC was around, when techies compared the two publications, was that News had lots of "extra" stuff (i.e. non-technical) while MC concentrated more on the code, techniques, etc. W/o debating whether it's accurate or not, it was perception that counted when choosing which subscription or order.

Please see my response to Booth about the comparison to another popular industry magazine, including their policy re online code.

-mark