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Re: End of an Era

Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:26 am
by Majones1
This morning, as I was waking up with my morning cup of tea (my stomach doesn’t handle coffee anymore), I was thinking about my woodworking magazine subscriptions, how they only come out every other month, how I would like more good content to learn to be a better woodworker, and my thoughts came back to this month-old thread. I suspect most of you were like me and had two or three (or more sometimes) subscriptions that supported your current interests.

Magazine publishers are like any business, it’s not generally an avocation, they need to make money, which requires a symbiotic relationship with their customers. I know in the computer world, in the 90s, there got to be so many advertisements that you had a hard time finding the content. But they did have to pay for that content to be created, organized for printing, printed in bulk, and then mailed in immense numbers.but we subscribers only wanted to pay maybe $1 to $3 per issue. Publishers had to find ways to meet their costs, and make a little bit for themselves and their staff. I’ve been involved with a small special interest magazine for an organization, in more of an advisory role, and I know how thin (or even non-existent) the profit is.

So, this morning I was wondering, what is our responsibility in this symbiotic relationship between the magazine producers, advertisers, and consumers of the content? As we move online to consume advertising content and reviews, and subscribers of the magazine content decreases - and this is not the same as consumers of that content - can we expect to continue not paying to support the producers of that content? In the past we relied on the advertisers to subsidize the cost of magazine production, but the advertisers are for businesses too, so they have to advertise where their marketing money has the most impact.

I have lately been purchasing three subscriptions, including their online content, partly to consume their content and learn more, but also because I would like the magazines to survive. So, my question is should we consider magazine subscriptions as more than just getting cheap entertainment, and more of a shared relationship in a marginally profitable content business?

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 12:38 pm
by dusty
Back when we were a stay close to home society, I subscribed to three or four wood working magazines. I latter reduced that number to two. Then I realized that I hardly ever stand down to read those. I was too much on the go. I then converted the remaining two to digital copies. I get Wood and Woodsmith as digitals that I can read enen when I am not at home

I don't know how many of those twenty magazines are available digitally but there are several. If you want to read "wood working" you can. It gives me something to do while I waiting for one of those many doctor's appointments.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 4:20 pm
by Hobbyman2
every one watches youtube now , sort of like the old 8track tapes , side band and AM radio broadcast , what they now call progress is constantly moving with or with out us . just hope the @net doesn't crash there will be a bunch of folks with no direction and few places to find it . jmo

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:28 am
by Ed in Tampa
Majones1 wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:26 am



I have lately been purchasing three subscriptions, including their online content, partly to consume their content and learn more, but also because I would like the magazines to survive. So, my question is should we consider magazine subscriptions as more than just getting cheap entertainment, and more of a shared relationship in a marginally profitable content business?
I agree but the problem I keep running into is magazines filled with useless info. Reviews are often duplicates of other reviews. Projects are often redoes of previous projects. Mistakes and corrections to plans often do not show up until 6 months later. Reviews often follow product lines singing the praises of a nearly useless tool or a tool that is identical to a much cheaper tool. And for me the real crusher is many ads have nothing to do with woodworking or new tools, products, or techniques. I simply do not want to thumb through heated beanie ads or how to relive hemorrhoids.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:59 am
by dcohen
I've found that the magazines weren't all that interesting also, and they have too many non-woodworking ads. I cancelled my subscription to one mag when they featured a Dewalt ad showing a guy without goggles or mask sanding on a project in a cloud of dust with his face about 12" from the air powered sander. That's not woodworking, imo. It's just stupid and dangerous. I've switched to books harvested from Thrift stores that I read at night when it's too cold down in the shop, or I am too tired. But I think magazines are a thing of the past. They just aren't the same. Plus the cost! I'd rather spend my limited $$ on supplies, wood, and tools. My 2 cents.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:35 am
by RFGuy
I don't have a lot of experience with woodworking magazines. I have thinned out the magazines that I receive about a decade ago. The only woodworking magazine that I still get is Fine WoodWorking, but I do question sometimes whether I should continue with it or not. I agree with you guys in that I don't think the quality is there anymore. Too many ads and not enough meat in the articles compared to the past. Every now and then I see a good article, e.g. not too long ago I found a new woodfinishing technique for cherry in FWW that I found useful. Useful articles like this have gotten fewer in recent years in my experience. I used to like the yearly tool review magazine that they send out, but I found tool reviews in magazines less useful today than they were in the past. Too often it is a thinly veiled advertisement from the manufacturer. Honest, in-depth tool reviews are hard to find any more. The one thing that I really like with FWW is that they have past editions online which allows me to search their entire past catalog. Don't need this every day, but when I do, it is nice to be able to search like this. I also like the small gallery of woodworking projects in the back of FWW. Typically these are design school student projects, so they tend to be more art than practical woodworking. Still, I find them inspirational.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:36 am
by thunderbirdbat
I still get Woodsmith, Wood and Popular Woodworking as print editions. I am still not sure if I will switch to electronic editions when my paper subscriptions run out. I do have electronic archives of past magazines for just about all the different wood magazines offered in the US. I do have a couple of woodworking magazines from England that I have digital subscriptions to that have some interesting articles. What I have found interesting is that the US magazines sell all their back issues as digital collections, complete or yearly editions, but the ones from England do not. If you want to purchase a back issue digitally, it is available individually but only if it was available digitally originally. You also have to read the magazines through their website and the only way to download them is by their device application that does not always work on US versions of the device software platforms.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:09 pm
by Lemmer
edma194 wrote: Wed Sep 08, 2021 10:31 am I think this is an old man's game now. Old men that were around back when, and that's a dwindling supply. The new breed of old men replacing us want robots and electronics, they never took wood shop in school, and there's less of a chance their dad had any woodworking tools.

In general, people aren't interested in things made of wood, they prefer plastic.
Too true. 3d printing is all the rage now except for the few of us leftover. It's a shame.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:05 am
by JPG
Well at least the trees will be safer going 'forward'. The exotic species anyway.

Re: End of an Era

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 11:03 am
by twistsol
I've been getting all my magazines electronically for about 7 years so all I need to carry is my iPad when I'm traveling. I do still see Wood, Woodsmith and fine woodworking at Barnes and noble. When I was there last week, the entire woodworking book section was exactly one book, which I already owned.

I would much rather have a paper book or magazine when I need to reference something in the shop than an iPad, and I just don't have the time or patience to sit through a YouTube video.