I see that both Garden Railways and Model Railroader are now offering digital editions.
GR is 6 issues for $29.95, MR is 12 issues for $29.95.
Any takers?
Not me.
Digital delivery is way cheaper than printing/postage. Yet they don’t offer a discount.
I noticed many digital books are the same price as their printed counterparts.
At least the music people offer a discount. Generally I can buy the download cheaper than the CD.
Ralph
Ditto
No thanks. I wstill like my hard copies. I dont like to depend on my computer. I can still read my hard copy under a candle light in my lean-to.
I’m with everyone else. I like to read forums on my computer screen, but catalogs and magazines just don’t cut it.
I like to read the magazine via the printed page, but what I don’t like is saving them. I usually toss them all after a few months.
That’s where the digital copy would be nice.
I have the MR collection of 75 years worth of issues and it’s very nice to be able to search through them and print out just what I need. I doubt if I’ll ever read every issue like I do a paper copy, but I sure like not having stacks and stacks of old issues.
Maybe if they offered some sort of combo deal, where I’d get the printed issue monthly and also be able to download it. But, the download would have to be able to fit into a collection, so that when I searched it would search through all the digital copies I owned.
Shawn said:I agree, Hard copies only for me.
No thanks. I wstill like my hard copies. I dont like to depend on my computer. I can still read my hard copy under a candle light in my lean-to.
You Betcha…
I subscribe to the ‘traditional’ paper copy and I like it- I keep them for future reference.
I have downloaded the paid for digital articles for the website (Bruce’s Boxcar article one of them) and I find them fine for reading on the screen and printed out, but I prefer the proper binded magazine- I find that when I print them out there are lots of pages to go missing.
Delivery is fine for me in the UK, but could be a good solution to those in parts of the world where it is difficult to get.
Alec
I kind of like the ““hard”” copy…
But, I also think that, if one has a subscription to the hard copy, one should also have access to the ““digital”” copy at no cost, since I am already paying for that magazine…
Also, will the ““digital”” copy have plans and so forth that one can download??? Or are they going to block people from saving the plans/pictures from the digital copy or charge an additional cost to download???
I have a digital subscriptian to O gauge RR Magazine, and I am still deciding if I like it. I suppose if I had a kindal of ipad, I would like it more, but I don’t have one of those, yet. One feature that I do like is that I can click to each advertiser has a webpage in their ad. Yes, I can down load each page (or all of them) as a pdf, so I don’t loose anything that way.
Guys, something that was discussed when MR’s 75 Years digital edition came out is the sharpness of plans and other data. Kalmbach said that to achieve the same degree of sharpness you get from a magazine page would require huge files that would be impossible to handle (you would have to have many, many DVDs). Of course, there’s also the issue of piracy, but never mind. Anyway, I like the 75 Years DVD for the convenience of having so much in one small place (my computer), but if a really critical dimension is important (not so much in large scale, I guess), then print works best. BTW, I was meaning to write to Kalmbach after reading the promo for their monthly digital magazine, where it says something like “enjoy the clarity of images,” or “zoom in to get a closer look.” I really question how effective this is, ‘cause if ya keep zoomin’ in, all ya get is pixilation. And if the data isn’t in the original magazine layout, you’re never going to create it. At this point, I’m not convinced to go to a digital magazine. And as a senior, I love my paper magazine.
One more thing: say you see a how-to article in the digital magazine and you want to follow the instructions for some process (mixing paint, measuring something, whatever). So whadda ya do, drag your computer over to your workbench and keep glancing over at the screen as you work? No, you probably print out the information you need, which brings you right back to where you coulda been if you had a paper magazine in the first place. 
Good points, Joe. I do have a Netbook that I have hauled over to my workbench to help, but it’s still not the same as a printed plan; and you’re right, the images just aren’t as sharp as I’d like.
But, for most work, all I need is to read the basic dimensions anyway. I end up using the computer to google for more information as well.
The problem with printing the digital edition is ink. We all know how much a new ink cost and it doesnt last very long. Plus the cost of paper. In reality it cost more if you get digital and print out things.
Shawn said:That's why I have a laser printer. I bought a Panasonic laser printer 10 years ago for $99. Two years ago I had to replace the toner cartridge for the first time. With all the children I had in school at the time, and all the printing I did, I'm sure we printed more than 10,000 pages.
We all know how much a new ink cost and it doesnt last very long.
I’ve never had an inkjet printer that didn’t break after 2 or 3 years.
The ink cartridges dry out and need regular replacement, whether you use them or not.
Ralph
Shawn said:Also - most ink over time fades. I have both ink jets and laser printers at home. Don't use the ink jets at all anymore - just gather dust. As for something at the workbench, I took one of the PC's I had laying around (don't ask how many - wife finally made me take about 20 old ones and donate them to Goodwill) and put it under my workbench. Picked up a small 15 inch flat panel I put in the back corner of the work area and use one of those compact keyboards meant for traveling. It's great when I need to look something up while working. and if I need to print it out, I send it to the laser printer upstairs (wife won't let me take that one down to the workshop .. yet..). I'm not a fan of the digital editions. I want the hard-copy. If I need a plan out of it, I can scan it and print it (and adjust it's size as needed). Plus it's fun to pull a mag from the file and just browse through it. I have MR back to the early 40's and can always find something interesting or tips that help.
The problem with printing the digital edition is ink. We all know how much a new ink cost and it doesnt last very long. Plus the cost of paper. In reality it cost more if you get digital and print out things.
I like the hard copy just to give the mail man something to do…
A couple of years ago I had the resolution discussion with someone at Klambake after they sent out a sample of the PDF files they peddle. My complaint was that the pictures and drawings were so compressed that when enlarged, no detail could be seen. I was assured that if I actually purchased a copy the detail would be there - they only compressed the free samples. Yeah, right.
To me, without high resolution pictures and drawings a digital edition is useless.
Regarding the earlier comment about a computer in the workshop; With a laptop, tablet or a low-cost off-lease desktop this really isn’t a stretch. I do all of my planning and drawing on the computer. I do print some things out full scale for reference, but a lot of time I just look at the screen. Besides viewing photos, the tool I use the most is MS Visio. Given a single known dimension (or one that can be estimated) I can scale a photo to 1:20.32 and then use the measuring tools to get measurements of all the details including angles. Another often used tool is MS Excel in which I have created a scale calculator and table of fractions with decimal equivalents (to match a micrometer, or use in calculator math).
Got an email from Kalmbach the other day.
It’s an additional $10 to add the digital to your Garden Railways magazine subscription.
Trains has a digital only subscription that is discounted about $6 from magazine subscription price.
Garden Railways should do the same and pass some of the savings on to the customer.
Ralph