Re: Thinner!

I 've watched this mess for awhile now, "Good Response Gary Guthrie"
 and that is from a non-payer who greatly respects you and your desire to
grow as any normal business. Wish you the best :)

Take Care,
Bill Hopkins

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Guthrie" <garyguthrie@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries" <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 11:21 AM
Subject: Re: Thinner!


> Mark,
>
> Nor am I privy to the financial details nor can I speak for Penton,
> however my personal thoughts appear as coments in-line.
>
> "M. Lazarus" wrote:
> >
> > 1)  When the price stays the same or goes up, but there's less of the
> > product, the consumer feels like the value is decreasing.
>
> When the price stays the same, look around and see what else has stayed
> the same price. Costs go up and, while I can't say what Penton does, I
> can say that I've observed what some companies do - go up in price or
> trim a little from the product. I haven't done an exhaustive analysis,
> but it seems to me that the total deliverable to the consumer has not
> gone down - it may have changed and given an impression that it has gone
> down, but I don't think that's the case.
>
>
> > 2)  Putting stuff on the web site is not a substitute for the printed
> > version.  It's great to augment the print (and there are a few things
are
> > better delivered electronically), but not at the expense of that very
same
> > magazine it's trying to boost!
>
> It's not meant to be a substitute. It is indeed to augment the printed
> version. It is something our readership wants and views as useful. Just
> as there are things best suited for print, there are things that can be
> done on-line that can't in print media. These are tough times for this
> type of business. Have you noticed how players are dropping like flies?
> There's a reason for that. I think the folks who've brought you the
> magazine and the network for so long have done a good job of making sure
> they continue to bring you the information. And, I think it is among the
> cream of the crop information in the industry. I know the folks who work
> on this stuff and they are top-notch, bright, and dedidated folks. I
> also know they've made much personal and professional sacrifice. And,
> they continue to pursue in spite of knocks that the times put on them.
>
> The bottom line, Mark, is that there are many facets to the industry
> that consumers don't think about, and understandably so. It's hard to
> imagine what all is involved in publishing. I know - I've seen it from
> both sides of the fence.
>
>
> > 3)  The "free" newsletters are not done out of the goodness of Penton's
> > heart - it's there to deliver revenue.  There are ads that pay for it.
The
> > same goes for the web site articles.
>
> Is Penton supposed to do things out of the goodness of their heart? Of
> course the newsletters are there for revenue purposes. It costs money to
> run a business and investors tend to think they should make a penny as
> well. Let me simply ask a rhetorical question, "Do you work for minimum
> wage?"
>
>
> >   As an aside, I would like to see all the past code available to the
> > public, or at the very least to past subscribers.  Since much of the
code
> > has been relegated to web site only, if you are not a *current* member
you
> > do not have access to code that you have paid for.
>
> Mark, you seem to think that you "own" the code that is published in the
> magazine. That's not true. And, to say that it should be available to
> the entire public, huh? They've never paid a cent for the magazine or
> anything else, EVER, and you think that Penton should bear the cost of
> making it available to the public as well as the cost of their access?
>
>
>
> Mark, you and I have conversed over the years and shared information and
> I know I've tried to help you where I could, so I hope you accept that
> I'm not "getting down on you". I find that you're a reasonable person
> and that when presented with information, you process it well. I hope
> that this sketchy bit of talk has some hint of information in the form
> of "think about it this way" that you can use to reconsider your
> opinion.
>
> As an author and editor for iSeries NEWs, iSeriesNetwork.com, and Club
> Tech Programming Tips newsletter, I can tell you that my hope is to
> bring as much information to my comrades in the industry. I hope you can
> understand that it's not an easy thing to do and that we really do have
> the interest of our readers at heart.
>
> Gary Guthrie
>
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