Have you considered publishing a PDF version of you magazine. I would definitely
be one of your subscribers.

Tom

We hope to move in that direction for all of the magazines and Digital Machinist would likely be the first to take the plunge. Unfortunately, our IT department is spread a little thin around here right now so I won’t even hazard a guess to how it might take.

Thanks for taking the time to ask. If anyone else would like to see a digital version of the magazine, let me know. If I can show management that there is a lot of interest in this it may help to speed up the process.

George

I like to bring my copy out to my shop and to work, So if it went digital I would have to print it out, punch holes in it, out it in some sort of a binder(to keep it on order). Needless to say it would be a real pain, If the price stayed the same I probably would not renew after it went digital. The only advantage for me would be if a project section got dirty, I could reprint it

Digital might be a nice option for some people, but I'd hate to see the 'death' of another print magazine.

They're easier to distribute, but it's a lot harder to put a PDF on my bookshelf, or carry into the shop, or into the "reading room". :D

We have no plans to end the printing of the magazine. The digital version would simply be offered in addition to the printed magazine. I would also like to offer single articles for sale, along with yearly subscriptions.

Many of our readers likely prefer to have a printed magazine to read, but for those not in the US the cost and availability of the magazine can become an issue. The digital version would be one price for everyone.

George

I think a digital version that is available along with the printed version would be great. If you needed a drawing out in the shop- just print out one page. It would be kind of handy.

Dan

We have no plans to end the printing of the magazine. The digital version would simply be offered in addition to the printed magazine. I would also like to offer single articles for sale, along with yearly subscriptions.

Many of our readers likely prefer to have a printed magazine to read, but for those not in the US the cost and availability of the magazine can become an issue. The digital version would be one price for everyone.

George

Excellent idea! Both would be great.

Just in case you ever decide that going digital only might be a good idea, go to the PC magazine forums and check out the post about doing just that. You talk about some mad subscribers, those people are furious. If it will not work for a magazine about computers and the internet it will not work for anyone else. I canceled my subscription.

Keep up the good work, I love all your magazines.

gb3,

I have both free and paid subscriptions to various electronic versions of magazines and I like them as I can pull up the info wherever I am, they are a cost effective alternative for overseas publications and you get the magazine ASAP.

I see no problem for your mag to go digital too. I would subscribe if the price is right as I'm in the UK and the sub for the print version here seems a bit stiff to me for just four issues a year (OK, I'm cheap!).

If you go for one of the newer style interactive page turning formats, please also include a PDF version for off-line browsing and archiving.

Phil

Just a thought:

I subscribe to about 4 printed publications (work pays for them). It used to be about 7 or so a year ago, but as soon as they went purely digital I deleted my subscription- you can't read a digital on the train, in the pub or in the rest room, you can't flick through it while the machine's on a finish cut.

I know you said you're keeping the printed. Good :)

I agree that it is nice to have the printed copy to take with you, wherever that may be. Since our company, Village Press, is primarily a commercial printer it is extremely unlikely that we would ever quit putting ink on paper. We need to have something for that big press out back to run!

George

I am not presently a subscriber, here are my thoughts re: PDF publication. I subscribe to nuts and volts and servo and they provide a pdf if you want it at no extra charge. I use the pdfs in the shop and get them all dirty and toss them, my Magazine stays in the library or gets archived to a shelf for preservation. I really see the PDFs as valuable, especially when the postmaster fails to deliver the magazine. I like the PDFs to print specific articles in a series and bind them together as well. One of the BIG minuses I saw with your publications was the delivery schedule, as I never knew when I was supposed to get an issue I never knew when one did not get here, I also; hated waiting 2 - 3 months for the next article in a series.

Joe,

You talk about an unpredictable delivery schedule but I know that the three magazines I deal with all go out the door within a day or two of the scheduled mail date. I know this because I hear about it if they don’t. There may have been some delayed issues in the past, but I assure you that our schedule is consistent. Perhaps the delays occurred somewhere in the mail.

I agree that four issues a year makes for a long wait when following a continuing article. We will eventually publish six times a year but it will take some time to secure enough editorial and advertising content to fill that many magazines.

George

Joe,

You talk about an unpredictable delivery schedule but I know that the three magazines I deal with all go out the door within a day or two of the scheduled mail date.
Hi George,
I wasn't throwin' flames at you all, rather I lose track of when the mag is due, and if it doesn't show up, it may be the next issue before I realise it, it is then a bit late to ask for a replacement. Our postal system is, while probably the worlds best, sadly lacking. I do appreciate that you seal the issues in plastic, BUT, there is always a BUT isn't there, BUT printing on the plastic the address, in Sunny steal your identity, Kalifornia, Makes a very difficult time shredding it, really messes up a shredder :D , Overall I would recommend your products especially to beginners. I followed with great interest the Bridgeport CNC conversion up untill he bought a kit, I figured after that, the kit mfg would provide instruction, anyway I have a Fadal TRM at my beck and call now, and do not need to convert my bridgeport.
Keep up the good work, and I hope to see more engines, of all variaty especially steam! Oh, if your writers make electronic controllers using microcontrollers, it would be helpful if they included the source code as well as a hex, just so your readers can change it, so as to be able to use a different # chip, or alter lookup tables ( like in the case of a small engine computer), it would be helpful, assuming the author was willing that is.
Thank You

I agree that we need printed versions too. For years I have subscribed to an electronics magazine in a hard copy and they have a PDF copy for $5 more per year. I too prefer to have hard copies while reading; they are easy to take with you. I also like the PDF copy to maintain a good reference library that is easy to search through for a particular article. If I am real interested in a project I then print a hard copy to use in the shop.
I also subscribe to a PDF version of an excellent electronic magazine from across the pond. The printed version would be too costly. Again I print the articles I need.

It doesn’t look like the digital version will happen anytime soon. With the economy the way it is, we are not planning on any big changes ($$$) until things turn around.

When we do jump into the digital sales, there will always be a printed version available. My guess is that the printed version would remain the best seller in the US but, as you mentioned, the costs associated with shipping overseas (and Canada) would likely make the PDFs the big sellers outside of the US.

George