Re: Thinner! -- RPG400-L

Gary,

See inline.

At 2/14/03 11:21 AM, you 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.

W/o going into a major comparison analysis I decided to pull an issue from a few years ago. I picked February (to avoid seasonal differences.)

Cover price Feb. 1999: $129 / year
Cover price Feb. 2002: $149 / year

Not bad. A 16% difference, roughly keeping up w/ inflation.

Number of pages Feb. 1999: 168
Number of pages Feb. 2003: 72

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*.

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.

I agree that the mag is the cream of the crop (even though there is no real competition today, I've always maintained that opinion), and for that I think you guys get kudos.

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.

I know you have. Please note that this is not a slam against you in any way. It is my perception (and apparently others) of the quantity of what is being delivered today vs. a few years ago. And I do have a history of reading this magazine cover to cover. I just checked and it seems that I have been a subscriber even longer than I had originally thought - since 1985-86!

> 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.

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.

>   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?

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.

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.

I realize that you are trying to explain the "facts of life" in the publishing biz, and I am returning that courtesy by showing the consumer side.

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.

Since you are a large part of the technical side of the magazine, I like to pass along my opinion that now, more than ever, the newsy pieces s/b relegated to online access and keep the focus of the magazine much more on the technical areas.

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