Brickjournal #9

[Shadows]

Well, Brickjournal #9 is out for download. I haven't read it yet though, and not because I don't want to.

It comes as no surprise to me that the whole venture was being done with future profit in mind, and that's clearly the case as they move to print for issue 10.

Ready to pony up $32 for 4 printed issues? No? You'll still be able to download it as well, for $4 an issue. All of this assuming you're somewhere that can use Paypal (for the downloaded one). I have no idea what the international readers are supposed to do for the printed one.

Oh, and if you buy the printed one, you also get a download of the PDF... How long before one person subscribes and then redistributes the PDF to his entire LUG? I don't think this is going to be a successful venture, but hey, I could be wrong. I didn't think Galidor was a good idea either X-D

Now I understand that there is a limited audience for this sort of thing, but those prices seem a bit high to me. First off, I don't want a print copy. I've got too many things lying around now. I desperate wish LEGO themselves would make all of their publications in PDF and just let us download them, save a lot of wasted paper and space, and keep the information right at my fingertips where I want it. In an age of technology, we should be moving away from printed waste instead of embracing it so we can charge $8 an issue for a magazine largely made up of contributions by the fans themselves and the LEGO Group.

But that's all beside the point. The download. Well, you go to the new publisher's site, where you're supposed to add it to your 'cart' and then 'checkout.' I knew that was going to be trouble from the moment I read the words.

I am not registering with some company I've never heard of to download something free. Forget it.

From what I've read, this is going to have a mixed response much like the whole Brickshelf affair (though where did that ever go? I still haven't noticed paid pages).

Read all about it for yourself: http://news.lugnet.com/publish/brickjournal/?n=185

So, what do you think?

(Edited because the link didn't linkify the first time, for some unknown reason...)

Edited October 19, 2007 by imperialshadows

[TheFrisian]

That's too bad, I always enjoyed reading the Brickjournal magazine. But I'm certainly not going to pay any money for it, I'm not that crazy.

I can be wrong, but aren't there a lot more ads on Bricklink now?

[julencin2000]

Well, if I were in the USA, with no doubt I'd buy it...

... but for europeans... shipping costs suppose more than the price of the publishing, so *wacko* this is a problem for us.

[tedbeard]

It comes as no surprise to me that the whole venture was being done with future profit in mind, and that's clearly the case as they move to print for issue 10.

I'm sorry but you have really gotten bad information. Let me try to summarize what I understand from Joe's comments on the subject over the last two years.

From the very first issue many AFOLs have been begging for a print version. Some of us like "real" magazines that can be read on the bus or stored on a shelf to be referenced while we build. I may be "old-fashioned" but I never read .pdf magazines online, I print them (or at least the articles I am interested in.) Further, to attract a wider audience and expand the hobby requires a real magazine that could someday sit on newstands beside model railroad or other hobby magazines.

There is no quest for profit other than to make the magazine viable including someday, maybe, a little renumeration for contributers and making it worthwhile for Joe (et al) to publish it. He is providing a service to AFOLs and that service has value just as products have value. Are you suggesting that BrickArms, BrickForge et al should sell their products at cost?

On a personal note, as a Canadian I will be paying $50 for 4 issues. That is $12.50 per issue which, coincidentally is the sort of price one pays in Canada for ANY specialty magazine. I get an English soccer magazine called "When Saturday Comes" every month and I pay about $12 each time (plus tax) and I have to read it almost a month after it is published in the UK.

If a real magazine is not worth it to you then get the .pdf version. If less than 3 Euros (at today's rate) is too much for a .pdf version then don't get it at all. But please don't make accusations or advocate theft because you have made a choice not to buy something.

[Hinckley]

I have to agree that the price is reasonable. Simply asking for subscribers to pay is reasonable as well.

Joe puts a lot of work into the magazine and a lot of passion and heart and energy. Accusing him of being out to make a profit from the beginning is unfair to him. He did it because he wanted to provide the service to the AFOL community...from my understanding, anyway. He is a member here, and I hope he chimes in. He can speak best for himself.

But, from what I've heard him say, to move forward to print, he had to hire a staff and you can't pay a staff with your heart and energy, thus the move to subscription fees. I also believe he was inundated with requests for a print version.

So, I respectfully disagree with you ImperialShadows that this is a bad move on BrickJournal's part. IMO, it is a great magazine and worth twice what Joe has decided to charge, and I encourage everyone who can to continue to support BrickJournal and Joe. But, like I said, that is only my opinion. :-)

[gylman]

I'd pay the money as a service to the community. Joe Meno does us all a valuable service in putting this out.

On the other hand, I have no idea why TLC would not support this project for the pennies it would cost them.

[Holodoc]

From the very first issue many AFOLs have been begging for a print version. Some of us like "real" magazines that can be read on the bus or stored on a shelf to be referenced while we build.

That is exactly what I was always thinking.

Every time a new BJ was released I went straight to my printer and had it printed. (in b/w |-/ )

When I wanted to indentify a certain part of an image I had to turn to my PC, look for the pdf-file and see what colours they were talking about.

I

[Hinckley]

I don

[Shadows]

Now that I've had some sleep, and a bit of time to think out my feelings more, I'll explain, on a less emotional level, what I mean.

I'm glad that some people want a print edition and are getting it. I don't understand it, but I can't argue the point. I loved printed catalogs and such as a kid, they just do nothing for me now except destroy trees and take up space. I download the digital instructions to all of my LEGO sets, though I do keep the printed ones since I already have them. I wasn't the least bit annoyed with the sets that didn't include instructions and opted for a download instead. I like the convenience of PDFs, and I will probably buy these in that format. In my heart, I doubt that the number of people who will be happy with this will exceed the number who won't. We'll never know for sure, unless this whole thing folds quickly (something I don't want to see happen).

My initial post was as I came away from the publishers site, annoyed at being expected to blindly register on a site I knew nothing about, to download a file that had previously been a simple, one shot thing. Sort of a buildup of anticipation followed by a letdown.

I've always looked forward to the magazine, though as I think about it even now, I don't really see where it's packed with so much information. To be honest, I can't remember anything that ever appeared there before it did here, or in one of the other major forums. Still, that's not really the point (though it's becoming one in my mind as I type this). I'm sure they at least had some new pictures or something I must be forgetting.

If this was a simple matter of, "please pay to help offset the bandwidth costs of providing this, here's our Paypal address," I'd already be a subscriber. They obviously had all of the staff necessary to put it together before, so that angle seems a bit off for me.

Ted: I don't think we're going to see this sitting in the newsstands attracting new/old fans, like a train or hobby magazine. I'd love to be wrong on that, and I guess it's impossible for anyone to know until some time has passed. As for the 'theft' angle, I wasn't advocating anything, I was just stating what will happen in the real world, as already hinted at by a post in another forum.

Hinckley: I guess my point is a selfish one, since I don't care if he had to hire a staff to move to print, I never wanted it in print in the first place. I was quite satisfied with it in digital form, and don't have a huge desire to support a staff structure to do something I wasn't interested in, when I think they could have done better simply charging for PDFs on their own, without involving an outside company that will take a healthy chunk of any income.

Holodoc: It was that registering that got me in a bad mood about the whole thing. I'm really not easy going about my private information being given to someone I don't know.

Ultimately, some of my feelings are the same and I honestly can't remember the big movement for this to be printed. Maybe I missed it. I'm sure it happened, it sounds like the kind of thing people would ask for. I'll be curious to see if they regret that or not.

Either way, I'm going to review some of my old issues, since I've saved them all along the way, and see what I got out of them to determine if I'll continue. I probably will. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it :-P

Wonder if these are my final thoughts on the matter. Probably not. *wacko*

[Siegfried]

I will probably pay for at least the first download as I like the magazine, and I do a lot of business via PayPal so I always have money in there anyway. If the PDF version is DRM protected then I will be more than a bit grumpy, and depending on that and what it's like I might go for more as they come. The print issue for outside the USA is too much to consider going for the print edition. As someone who sells stuff on-line, I can relate to hearing complaints when you have the nerve to sell something that people think should be free. I can say from experience that asking people to give money is no where near as effective as forcing them. so I don't think asking for donations would have worked. Perhaps imperialshadows is right that this was his plan all along, but he has handled the situation far better than Brickshelfgate was so he has no complaints from me.

I downloaded the last free edition the day that it was avaliable. It doesn't bother me giving my infomation as I tend to give only Post Office boxes and temporary EMail addresses anyway.

[Doctor Sinister]

I'm happy to pay - it's not a huge amount and there's interesting stuff in the magazine - people can't keep doing good work for free forever, I don't see this as a money-making exercise as much as someone merely trying to cover their time, expertise and expenses. I could be wrong of course...but I don't expect everything to be free, although it would of course be lovely. ;-)

Dr. S.

[Shadows]

I will probably pay for at least the first download as I like the magazine, and I do a lot of business via PayPal so I always have money in there anyway. If the PDF version is DRM protected then I will be more than a bit grumpy, and depending on that and what it's like I might go for more as they come.

That's pretty much what I've decided as well. Buy one and see how it goes.

Perhaps imperialshadows is right that this was his plan all along, but he has handled the situation far better than Brickshelfgate was so he has no complaints from me.

I'll definitely admit that. If this had been, "Issue #9 is ready, but you must buy it immediately" instead of a last free issue, I'd have probably written them off completely without trying one of the pay issues.

[highlandcattle]

I am also one of the persons wo asked for a printed version. I'm probably the only person who bought a printed copy of railbricks. Once the first print issue becomes available I will probably buy an subscription. I agree that killing trees isn't good. But You have to realize that the make paper of planted threes. The tropical ones are your floor, cupboard table and others. it is just fun to read something like this on the bus or tram, I don't use a car for the enviroment.

Thanks Joe Meno for answering my wish

[szww]

I personally like printed version to be released, sometimes i like to have something in "real" form. I probably stick to .pdf format, but it is nice to know, that i can order printed edition if i only want.

I cooperate with monthly magazine and can assure, that making such thing you need a lot of time&work, therefor I fully understand introducing some payment. For me $20 is a bit too much though. Like some of you I will try .pdf version and probably stay with it. Of course, as normal, if I pay for something I can expect more, therefor I hope BJ will provide a lot of nice articles (and yes, I would be happy to see something I haven't seen before ;) ).

I also like to read nice article in merto, but for me 2-3 printed pages everyday is more comfortable than huge 100+pp magazine ;)

EDIT:

I just like to add, that I really like the way they introduced new, paid version:

[here you go, fresh new BJ, unfortunately the last one for free, but take your time to rethink if you would like to pay for next editions]

instead of:

[hey, new great BJ is out...but YOU HAVE TO PAY ]:-> ]

[Armothe]

I guess I'm sorta biased about this particular issue since it features BrickForge but I'm excited at the prospect of getting these in printed form. I think the price is reasonable for the amount of work and content that goes into each issue. I think it would be great if Joe and staff could find an easier way to distribute copies to Europe - my guess is that its a matter of time to work out such issues, not a lack of commitment.

-A

[Mr Hobbles]

I'm slightly disappointed by this...

The printed version is good, I appreciate that there are people out there who would like a printed version, and for them, this is ideal.

However I have no interest in the printed form, I like being able to download it and read whereever I want without carrying a paper copy around, not to mention it's more enviromentally friendly. I grudge paying money for something that was free before. Am I getting anything new? Are the issues going to be larger to warrant it costing money? If not, then I won't be buying it.

On the other hand, the issues with the exclusives on Cafe Corner and Market Street were very good and I would be willing to pay a small amount of money in order to see these. And so these are the only ones I'll be buying.

[hollisbrick]

When they say it's free does that mean there wont be any shiping payments? Hope not lol because i just orded one then.