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Author Topic: Magazine article Database?  (Read 13941 times)

Martin (Admin)

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #75 on: September 22, 2009, 05:24:36 pm »

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Colin Bishop

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #76 on: September 22, 2009, 05:41:57 pm »

You are perfectly entitled to your opinion Seaspray but making a head to head comparison with Mayhem would be missing the point.

However, if you have any ideas on how we could improve the Model Boats site we'd certainly be happy to consider them.

Colin
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Seaspray

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #77 on: September 22, 2009, 06:31:37 pm »

No comparison with Mayhem was implied. But I believe Mayhem took the model boaters forum to the great height it is today. (Fact)

Something I found with MB lacking at that time and still to date.

Also the times my subscription ended at MB and was never chase it up for renewal. Be surprised how a phonecall or an email will bring in renewals.

Seaspray




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Colin Bishop

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #78 on: September 22, 2009, 07:27:23 pm »

Quite right Seaspray, Mayhem is an independent forum and the Membership value that as it allows much more freedom than would be the case on a commercial site - the Humour section is a case in point! The Model Boats website makes no bones about being there to support the magazine and their Forum is integrated with that so it can never become another Mayhem and nor should it. The underlying motives of the two sites are quite distinct.

However, you have not answered my question as to how the Model Boats site might be improved. If you want to criticise it then fair enough but some suggestions for improvement would be welcomed!

Not chasing you up to renew your subscription may have been an administrative oversight. I don't know. But my personal view is that the magazine does give pretty good value for money these days and Paul Freshney has made a very good point of  improving the variety of content on offer. Model boating is very much a niche interest these days and I think we should be supporting the magazines which underpin the hobby rather than running them down. You'd miss them if they were gone, believe me!

Colin
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Seaspray

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #79 on: September 23, 2009, 10:34:13 am »

There has been a lot of not chasing up renewals to my knowledge and enquiries over some time, with a lot of subscribers.

The forums are identical in that they support model boating and the many offshots to that hobby. I am just waiting to have to subscribe to MB to get on the MB forum. Also I think Hobbystore is a bit rocky at the moment not having the turnover expected. Believing  like so many other institutions they have sat back traded on their name alone.

I don't intend to be so presumptuous to offering ideas to MB as you requested, its the way things have become now. The hobby is in a minority base, and it is hard to cater to that market to get enough sales to made a big profit margin(S). Mind you MB is world wide trading has been for donkeys  the bigger your market the more competition there is. The harder it becomes to trade. You can become too big and loose the pulse of your business.

I might live to see MB cease publication and possibly other model boat mags as well but MB and the others will survive through subscription on line. They will be available through internet cafes, libraries and at home. You may also have them available on our journeys by land air and  of course sea

Trust me its the future, heck its out there waiting.

Seaspray.


 

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Colin Bishop

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #80 on: September 23, 2009, 11:29:53 am »

Seaspray,

Some valid points there. I will pass on your comments re chasing up subscriptions.

All publications and magazines have been hit by loss of advertising revenue which has switched to the Internet. Many with online content, including the national daily papers, are looking at ways to charge for access to online material. The problems lie in being able to set up some sort of system of micropayments so you only pay for the articles you read (many people would not want to take out a full subscription for a newspaper) and the fact that the BBC has it's own news content which is of course completely free. They regard this as unfair competition.

I can't speak for the other MyHobbyStore titles but I do know that Model Boats is actually doing quite well at the moment and easily meeting its targets, I think this is largely down to Paul Freshney increasing the variety of material in each issue which makes it more likely that people will find things that interest them. Of course in circulation terms Model Boats is just a minnow compared with the bigger magazines on the bookshelves but the readership has remained pretty stable over the years and will probably continue that way until we all start dying off!

I think there will be online subscription at some point, the Flexipage feature shows one way forward, but in the meantime most people do prefer hard copy if they can get it. Reading stuff onscreen is less convenient and even the new Ebooks have some way to go if the one I tried out in Waterstones recently is typical.

Incidentally, you should be able to post on the MB Forum by simply registering on the site, you don't have to be a subscriber.

Colin

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tigertiger

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #81 on: September 23, 2009, 01:01:17 pm »

I think waiting for the micropayment system is a bit like an excuse for inaction. Waiting for new technologies is never a good idea. Many of them fail in thier own business cases, G3 subscription services using GPRS was a classic. That was about microbiling for packets of data, instead of paying by page view. Guess what, the packets were so small that they were of no commercial value to the telecom network, and they would have trouble marking up data packets by 10 000% due to fair trade issues.

Have the publishers looked at those that do provide payed for services.
My wife gets The Economist. Online content, podcasts, and video downloads. Every week.

I think that in 50 years time there will be no hard copy left. I think that in 20 years time there will be a niche market for hard copy. Some will move forward, others will be left behind. Some like The Independant have already gone.
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The only stupid question is the one I didn't ask

Seaspray

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #82 on: September 23, 2009, 01:02:16 pm »

I have n will contribute to the forum @ MB. I've got pics of the Meteor there.

Paul has done well  and like yourself has help me in the past, and it was appreciated.

You never see  hobby magazines advertise on the media ie radio and television. Expensive yes but a quick advert encompassing all of the hobby magazines in the various hobby fields could  generate subscriptions.

The media is struggling for advertisers, now would have been a good time I would have made an enquiry, at least.

Seaspray
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Bryan Young

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #83 on: September 23, 2009, 04:41:31 pm »

Colin...and others.
Of course model boating is a minority hobby. So is every other hobby you could name. It's the nature of hobbies to be minority interests. Here I'm talking about a hobby that requires a lot of work by the hobbyist. I appreciate that "angling", "shooting" and so on may (just) be called a "hobby", but quite often they are referred to as "sporting activities". Surely the main productive hobbies must have Railways, Aircraft and Boats/Ships near the top of the list. Wood Turning, making Dolls Houses,Wargaming.....the list is endless: and ALL are "minority" interests. People are "odd". Personally I think that there are so many "minority" interests out there that they are actually the majority. In the old days of the "Earls Court" exhibition the hall was full of wonderful and diverse modelling expertise. Now look at Harrogate. Everything from Steam Locos to little hand carts. Boat/Ship modelling is a part of all that, and each persuasion can and does pick up and learn from another. So the gist of my argument is that one form of modelling should never be held up in isolation from any other form. It's all part of the world of modelling. BY.
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Notes from a simple seaman

Roger in France

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #84 on: September 23, 2009, 06:30:35 pm »

Having just today received my invitation to renew my subscription to "MB" I consider myself qualified to join this topic!!!!!

To suggest that books/magazines will be replaced entirely by the Internet has been threatened for years. In fact the number of books in print grows every year and is higher now than ever before. We may disagree about how good or bad some of them are but at least we should remember that owning a hard copy of something also appeals to the acquisitive nature of many of us. I look upon a good book I enjoyed as an old friend and while I may happily lend it to those I think will appreciate it, it is mine and I want it back!

The physical relaxation of sitting back and reading in an inclined or horizontal position is a little difficult with a screen. It is also much easier to transport a book to read anywhere. It is also easier to put down and pick up a book.

Many hobby magazines rely quite significantly on voluntary submissions by enthusiasts. Hence in "MB" there is far too much about high speed and high powered boats for my taste but I suspect that is because the OMRA enthusiasts have got their act together. I also dislike the amount of space allowed to the guy who visits naval ships. But, good luck to them and I will continue to hope some other branch of the hobby will contribute so as to take some of the space.

I think many individuals and clubs are far too reticent about submitting material. They need to remember that Paul Fresney is not a judge he is an editor who, I am confident, will undertake a certain amount of rewriting if he thinks the basic material submitted is worthy of readers interest. If you look at what is published currently, you can see evidence of Paul's polishing cloth even when he does allow the natural tone of the contributor to show through!!!

I think the idea of TV advertising is a complete non starter. The cost is vast and the medium is susceptible only to brief simple messages. The proportion of those interested and those likely to be interested as a part of the viewing population is minuscule.

As "tigertger" says the publishing industry is tentatively exploring how it can charge. As an example, I have to pay for "The Times" crossword but some papers are free. I pay because "The Times" crossword setters provide me the kind of challenge I enjoy.

My attitude to model boating magazines is very ambivalent. Sometimes I enjoy them other times they bore me. But "seaspray" is certainly right about the need for effective subscription reminders, I only take "MB" because the "other lot" never bothered to remind me my sub. was due!

Roger in France.
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tony52

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #85 on: September 23, 2009, 07:27:27 pm »

Roger,

Must say, the others also failed to advise when my subscription was due renewal. Like yourself I also didn't bother.

I subscribe to MB which is good 'suppertime reading' and the excellent bi monthly 'Ships in Scale' from the USA. This publication is growing outside the US and now has a European editor, additional to the American. They appear to have taken into account those of us who now need reading glasses by making the text a more legible size.

http://www.seaways.com/
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Seaspray

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #86 on: October 01, 2009, 04:28:25 pm »

See there is a nice tug kit on offer at MB and a free book with the kit. Very good looking model.

Seaspray



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Bowwave

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #87 on: October 03, 2009, 07:12:40 pm »

Reading the comments above does give food for thought. Being a model internet junkie I gain a substantial amount from sites such these and marvel at the breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm, especially on Mayhem  and I enjoy   the spontaneity that  sites such Mayhem  offer . Right enough of the praise.  Magazines  catering for  our branch of modeling  have been  around for two or three generations.  In fact I still see and  hear of various copies of Scale Model Ships ,   Model Maker , Model Boats, Marine Modeling  or Radio Control Boat Modeler,    being  either brought along to the model clubs or  re-cycled   on various web sites .   These hard copies will no doubt be doing the rounds for the next 50 or more  years, long after I’m gone. Some  have  even  been carefully bound into volumes  and occasionally pop up on e-bay.
 Many modeling sites operate some form of archive where modelers can refer back   to posts or builds that interest them but it’s not always a simple operation to access these archives.   . However any form of electronic storage either personal or collective is by design   more transient than the old fashioned hard copy. If and I have seen this  happen, a popular site, for what ever reason ceases to exist. Then what happens to all the archive material, members discourse, views, and options?. Where does it go?   How many have lost information, pictures etc from any one of their electronic storage devices?  How good is the CD , extra hard drive, digital camera, Jump drive  you name it,   for permanent  storage?  I picked up the other day a copy December issue 1955 of Scale Model Ships, it was out there and not that difficult to locate. But will some future model builder be able to source that super built project from a model site his father told him about? Or locate that e-.copy of Model Boats  or Marine Modeler  May be  but don’t bank on it.
Bowwave
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Seaspray

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Re: Magazine article Database?
« Reply #88 on: October 03, 2009, 07:51:13 pm »

I am sure they'll be many a hoarder out there with something of interest for everybody. This can be stored by many means, but the likes of scrap yards ( junk yards ) with old car parts are disappearing faster or is it that the cars scraped today are shorter lived than years gone by.

Little twist of the subject


Seaspray
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