"Digital Magazines" Topic

Hi all

What is your opinion of digital versions of wargaming magazines? I know some publishers have made some progress but fall well short of publications like national geographic. Admittedly NG would have a much larger readership. Do you think they will eventually go this way?

Chris

Probably, but I'm from the generation that will always prefer to hold a magazine or book, rather than have to go on-line, (or on-screen) to view it. Mind you, the saving on space is a positive point.

I think also that we are only just beginning to see what can be achieved through the digital media. Just producing a digital version of a magazine is in my opinion, a 'cop out'. There are many, many possibilities presented by the digital format, which could make a digital magazine into something far more attractive and interesting than most of the digital options currently available.

Mind you as far as books go, I'll stick with being a latter day Luddite. Nothing will replace a well produced book, but magazines…

They may very well go that way but I don't like it. Other than articles, when I read something I want to hold it in my hands. If I subscribed to a digital magazine I would hit the 'print' button when my issued arrived.

I've seen some samples on my sons I'pad, they look OK, but like the two replies so far – I'm also of the generation that likes to hold the magazine in my hands.

Tony

I used to buy lots of historical wargaming magazines, but I'm now getting out of space (I also have well over 2000 books, not to mention my miniatures collection).

So, yes, I would buy digital versions of magazines!

I have Miniature Wargames on subscription. It is a straight digital version of the mag. But the issues are not my own. The sub allows you access to mags with a few years of back issues. If you stop you lose access. Battlegames was the same. I believe that with WS&S you get the actual mag downloaded to keep, but I don't think you actually subscribe.

Does that mean that to read some publications you have to go on-line everytime you want to read your current issue? rather than having a 'real' digital PDF on your machine.

The new MW/BG will be available as PDF. More specific details coming before Salute.

Henry

I have previously subscribed to two digital wargaming magazines.

I used them with my iPad.

I have absolutely no complaint about the formatting or the quality, but I've gone back to printed magazines only. This is because how I wanted to use the magazines – reading in the bath etc – wasn't advisable. If I'd been commuting though, it might have been a different story.

In short, different people want different things in different ways for different reasons. Doesn't of itself mean one is better than t'other.

Thanks for the comments and I tend to agree with everyone. Although, the digital version of one of the magazines is pretty cod ordinary in my view. I was an avid collector of magazines but seeing my shelves begin to bend under the weight of 20 years of MW magazine I ended up giving them all away due to lack of space of fear of my shelves collapsing. Unfortunately I am a little pushed for room so digital versions are good for me. However I concur with having a hardcopy in your hands as well.

Thanks again and a good discussion.

Chris

I am pretty sure I can still read my hardcopy magazines 20 years from now. I am not so sure I still can do that with digital content.

As the guy who created MagWeb.com (1996-2009), I can say that longevity pros and cons of both are about equal. For every hard drive crash, there's an overturned glass of liquid. That said, digital requires that you upgrade the format every so often, or at least put it somewhere in the cloud for later conversion via utility program. And as MagWeb members know, companies do go out of business.

On the production end, digital and print take the exact same amount of editorial and art effort to produce up to the time of media. You still need someone to write an article, an editor, a photographer/artist, layout person, and so on. The end result is a PDF. From there, sending it to a printer is a little easier than running it through often finicky software (although this is far better than it once was).

As a writer/editor, I spend a lot of time on a computer, so print or electronic is about the same to me, although I prefer print because I find it a tad easier and more comfortable to read -- although some magazines and books test my eyesight with smaller than usual font -- and a magnifying glass doesn't quite keep up with a file that can be viewed at virtually any sized font. That said, having to scroll around a page gets old fast to see a two-page spread map.

What would be nice is for the e-mag/e-book formats to become one, sort of what happened to Beta vs VHS videotape or Blu-Ray vs (er…mental lapse here…the HD format that lost out) DVD.

Now, if you think magazines are dead, I did a story last month that noted 2012 had debuted 700+ new magazines (have to look up the number). I didn't see the number of terminated magazines, but still, niche and nano-niche publications continue to pop-up. Certainly the magazine rack at my local Barnes & Noble offer a vast array.

Russ

Any publisher who makes a digital version of his publication be it a newspaper, magazine or newsletter is simply opening the floodgates of theft and asking to be put out of business.

Not necessarily true, Otto.

In all the years I ran Battlegames, I only found one instance of someone trying to rip me off by uploading to a torrent site.

The knack is in the pricing – make it seem too expensive and people will exert that strange sense of entitlement they have on the internet. Price it right, and they respond more positively.

Wargame Vault, for example, seems to be doing extremely well.

Henry

DRM -- Digital Rights Management is key for electronic publications. It's come a long way, especially in the large companies, than a PDF or HTM/JPG.

For MagWeb, we tracked every "hit" on an article (because we paid royalties) and could do so by account. We got to know patterns over the years. For example, the first month, 1000-1200 hits for a new user, about half that the second month, and half that the third month and subsequent months until the 6th month or so, then, whoosh, back up to 1000, then half, and half, and so on.

We discovered, informally, that the user went through the site looking for his key period, then, as the material was gone through, maintained a look and see, and then, something would trigger a new interest and away he went.

On occasion, we did find problems, then we looked at where the files were going and when the account was being activated -- many folks enjoyed a look while on business or vacation. Discounting that, we found a few accounts, less than 1%, being dual accessed. We asked if they had been hacked and changed the password as a precaution. Just about all wargamers I've met were on the up and up.

Russ

If you say so Henry, but I've never seen it, and Dot, my wife, who usd to work for a paper said that whenever they asked how much they were making on the internet editions, shied around the issue and when the truth came out, it was nothing.

Anyway, the package is set. Zow! $57.50 USD to get the whole thing over the pond. Should show up in a week or so.

Let me ask a few questions of Henry and Russ

1.If they download it can they print it?

2. Can they transfer the downloaded file as an attachment to an e-mail?

If the answer to either of these two is yes, then my original contention stands. They can take the printed copy to work and copy it there, and 2, they can attach it to an e-mail and do a Sherwin Williams with it.

No matter how good your pricing it can't beat zero.

Otto – is there no way the material could have been sent electronically? You've gone to a lot of expense there and I can't guarantee that the material will be used.

And on the other matter, you can come up with whatever conspiracy theories you like concerning digital editions but in my case, I chose to think the best, rather than the worst, of my readers and they seem to have responded by NOT pirating Battlegames.

Henry

Dear Henry

Don't do electronic.

As for the use of the material, up to you.

I notice you did not answer the questions.

I take it that means "yes" to both. Therfore, you're being stolen from.

By the way, that's the reason I don't do electronic.

Russ Lockwood here at OMM, prepping for Snappy Nappy Day (Sat, 4/20, 11am) at Time Machine Hobby (Manchester CT, just east of Hartford). OMM publishes SN.

For MagWeb, yes, they could most certainly print it out, and I suppose there was nothing stopping them from printing multiple copies, but I expect that for one or two articles, the same thing happens to paper copies. If you are talking about widespread photocopying, I imagine the fellow would at some point say "Get your own copy/membership/etc."

Several publishers noted that when an issue went up on MagWeb, they would get additional sales because people could see the articles and wanted it in paper format that was handier that 8.5x11" sheets.

To your second question, yes, they could have downloaded the text and jpgs, then attached via e-mail. Of course, you could do the same thing with a smartphone camera on paper. Any way you look at it, you can appropriate text and graphics fairly easily now and send them.

Which is why the larger companies focused on DRM -- not completely safe by any means, no more so than copy protection on software, movies, and so on, but serving as some sort of deterrent.

If MagWeb had been done by a large company, I am sure there would have been a different pricing structure. I can say, that as a former Editorial Director for AT&T's web division, that the company charged $2.50 USD PER article from its partner media companies…which is why I used a 'pay one price, read all you want' model.

I've been asked a number of times what it would take to revive a MagWeb-style site, and the answer would be too much for a small-scale operation. The website, back-end accounting, and so on would be less of a problem than the acquisition of rights -- quite a bit has changed.

I should also note that as a freelance writer in my day job, I signed a contract that grants all rights to the companies that buy my work.

Russ Lockwood

Dear Russ

Thank you for your straightforward answers.

Of course I knew the answers before I asked them.

As for beeing a freelance writer, the signing of the contract transferring rights to the companies that buy your work is perfectly normal and you are receiving compensation for your work, whereas someone who downloads a copy and makes unauthorized copies is of course, stealing.

This is one of the reasons I don't charge for my rules when I offer them. If you want to copy them go ahead.

But the practice is far more widespread than you might care to admit. I have in the past had about two dozen people call and offer to give me copies of things they downloaded from a site (that they paid for) and I always decline the offer. If I want something I'll pay for it. To take it without paying for it is thievery.

Otto

Dear Henry

The reason I sent you the paper copies was you can see them in their lay-out form and with the accompanying artowrk without having to open them up laboriously from an e-mail and then check the illustrations under a different file etc. They are fairly like "gallies" used to be in the old newspaper trade (gallies is the term for the type laid out in print as it would appear on the page with the associated cuts and illustrations. This means you can easily go through them and decide if this or that interests you and then I would go and excerpt the file electronically to send to your for publication.

It was done as a matter of convenience to you.
From the issues of Battlegames I saw you seemed interested in Imagi-Nations and the whole pile is solid Imagi-nations. Nine years of publication, four issues a year, tabloid size, average of 6 pages per issue so that comes down to 864 pages with an average of 8 articles per issue or 288 articles plus pages of artowrk. Also sent you the After Action Reports/ Keepsake Booklets for the past three "Weekend" Conventions at 48 pages each. All of this is full color.

But if you don't want them, just toss them out when you get them or refuse the package if you wish.

As I said, I only sent them to be helpful.

Otto

Otto

Your very generous package has arrived safely, thank you. You've given me a mountain of stuff to read!

Henry