"The death of print?" Topic

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While most of these are not going to have a direct effect on gaming, #49 hits home.

The games fanzines of the 70's, 80's and 90's are all but vanished. A bare handful have moved onto the web as "periodic PDFs", to be replaced by personal websites and web forums.

Is this a good thing?

It makes toilet reading that much more difficult. Otherwise, I think it's a good thing.

Yes. It makes things much more interactive, cheaper and better (photo)illustrated.

I don't find that nycjadie's problem is an issue – if you have the right data plan on your phone you can read and view virtually anything fairly quickly. Can make for some long waits in the line at the 'loo.

In general I think it is, especially the itneractive part. For niche hobbies like ours places like TMP etc are a great way to "meet", or at least interact, with people you share your hobbies and interests with.

For larger publications and publishers (like my employers) it's a living hell. I get a bit annoyed with all the kids saying print is dead – it definitely isn't nor is the basic business model, but we're fast revising the profit model!

Sounds to me like the kind of bloke who moaned about the lack of security in a zip fly for his trousers compared to buttons.

Change happens but it doesn't have to happen to you if you don't want it to. PDFs can be printed you know.

I hope not. I'm going to go read my copies of 1984 and Animal Farm on Kindle now. Oh, wait, I can't now can I? Luckily for me, I have them in book form!

I like the printed media. As a matter of fact I usually print out the pdfs of anything that really interests me. I don't think it's dead but I do suspect it will get more expensive.

Most change is bad. This definitely is.

Number 7 is something to think about.
VR
James Mattes

Funny, I was just recently reading an article (was it in Time Out, might have been?) on the revival of printed fanzines. Mostly limited run (100 ish) and music based. The reason ? Well, if there's only 100 copies then you're in the gang if you have one and out if you don't (until somebody scans it and puts it on the net of course !)

Used to save a few pounds for Gamesday's to spend at the fanzine stand…ahn, Underworld Oracle, StormLord, Alarums and Excursions, Lion and the lamb chronicles…

(think Alarums and Excursions might still be going, anyone know fer sure ?)

Change does happen. I believe that print publishing is on the fast train to cottage industry. Since I used to write for an international tech publication, I guess my opinion is "informed". The amount companies would pay for a full-page color advertisement was so much more than they'll pay for any amount of web advertising that not only is print doomed, but the industry is in trouble trying to replace it.

In fact, in-depth analysis type articles are already going the way of the do-do. The web demands instant, not in-depth. Be first to get it out and you'll get more hits than the guys that spend weeks evaluating a product.

Of course, in the US the new rules about blogging and compensation will ease things a bit, at least you can no longer take free product from a company in return for a service – unless the threat of a $10K fine counters the value of the goods ;-).

Don.

I think a way to save print magazine is the use of on demand format seen on lulu.com. No upfront cost to the publisher it is a good way to start. Ad fees and a little extra on the price to help the publisher with advertsing.

David

About print and publishing in general: I freelance for a number of trade and academic publishers and I take the opposite view, Don. Print publishing isn't dead – it's continuing to evolve, as it has done since the invention of printing, in tandem with e-publishing. And there's still plenty of in-depth analysis going on!

When you're on holiday, would you leave your e-book reader by the pool while you have a swim?

Oh, yeah – and I read the news every morning on the iPhone while I'm in the bath. I'd read while on the pot too but I'm scared of dropping the phone in the bowl…

Well, old editions of the White dwarf are worth more than the cover price but old web pages just vanish
Remember Geocities?

There are lots of advantages for paper how many times have you found a great website and forget to booknark it and spend hours in vain trying to find it again?

Have you ever found you books hacked by a script kiddy?

Perhaps the Telegraph has written its obituary?

Save a tree buy a book!

I'm a bit surprised not to read that reading a magazine or a book is an unsurpassed pleasure. Browsing a wargames magazine is a different pleasure than browsing a web site.

By the way why we still play with those old lead miniatures that require money, painting, space etc while we could play our wargames with pc????

When I took over the Pike & Shot Federation and renamed it the Renaissance Wargame Society, I also purchased a color laser printer so the Reiter could be published in color. I gave society members the choice of paper or digital. 95% chose paper even though this was more expensive. The society has dropped the digital choice. It is much easier to carry the newsletter around and if you lose it, it is only $6 USD for a replacement. If you lose a Kindle or iPad (gag – from a Mac lover) you're out a hellava lot more. We are not ready for an all digital world.

Rich

Number 32 should have caused a few comments by now….

My problem is I dont have a laptop, and I have problems brining the desktop to the bathroom when I need to go… reading.

There is just something tactile about holding a magazine in your hands and turning the page. Besides I don't have to find an internet cable, and a place to plug the power cable in with a magazine.
VR
James Mattes

James is on target but let me try to expand. When everything in a business environment is attached to a computer or server and that equipment goes down, the business usually comes to a standstill. Manual backups are imperative especially in an emergency situation when there are major power outages. Reliance on just the computers ill serves us when they are not up and running. It shouldn't be this way but that's the way it has been evolving. All the cell phones, ipods, and other devices run on batteries. Many electronic parts are dependent on the supply of one mineral or metal or another. And some are rarer than others and the supplies of some can be limited. Why are we headed down that road? I prefer the lights on and the real printed book in my hands. The computer for some concise short articles on esoteric stuff that I wouldn't read a book on for lack of interest. But it will catch my eye on someone's home page and I'll read and perhaps learn something new.
I'm really not a Luddite. I just think we're setting ourselves up down the road in case the lights and batteries start going out for long periods of time.

My missus works for a well-known national monthly women's mag, I think the magazine has been going for about 25 years, yesterday they announced their highest circulation figures ever. This is after the "golden years" of the late eighties/early nineties and the harder times thats followed the massive increase in market competion thats occured since then- example: early 90's her mag had about half a dozen competitors, now they have maybe 30.
They have no real idea why this increase in sales has occurred either, however, as an aside, there is a train of thought in the industry that EVENTUALLY devices like the i-pad will indeed superseed printed mags, and these companies are already preparing for this.