BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Magazine Trends & Industry Consolidation

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Magazine Trends & Industry Consolidation
www.bosacks.com
Re: 5 Key Future Magazine Trends
Bo, I couldn't agree with you more about digital magazines and delivery of content. It's definitely the future of our business. But we're struggling to find technology to deliver content to niche audiences. I don't like the "page flip" technology that's currently being implemented by some publishers and e-media companies like XXXXXXX. The few customers I've spoken with agree - too bulky. And frankly my company is much too small to blaze a trail to create our own technology platform.
So, if we see the future but don' know how to get there, where does that leave us?
I'm struggling mightily with this, any advice?
(Submitted by a Publisher)

BoSacks Responded to Publisher thusly
Consider it this way. You are an explorer. Your journey is across an uncharted land. You know you will survive because you are alert and savvy. You don't know which technologic river to transverse or which digital desert will bring disaster. All you know is that there is a bounty at the other side. That is what Explorers do. That is what Lewis and Clark did. They made it up as they went along. And just for fun as a sidebar Lewis and Clark lost only one man, and that to a busted appendix, which would have killed the guy no matter where he was on the planet at that time.

Re: 5 Key Future Magazine Trends
Bob, great article. I saw you and your partner deliver this lecture to a packed room last month. Down here in the production trenches it gets harder every day. The pressure is intense and much less rewardng than it once was. I like the excitement of publishing, but the technology changes so fast that it is hard to keep up. And the head count keeps getting smaller. Some days I feel like it is a war zone and that there are snipers in the rafters. Every now and then somebody goes down and there are no new troops on the horizon to take their place. (Submitted by an Ad Manager)

Re: 5 Key Future Magazine Trends
Bob, great article.All the nay sayers are dead wrong. I read two digital editions every day. I read my newspapers on my laptop and I love it. Doesn't matter where I am on the planet they are alwasy there for my education and enjoyment. It is the future and I am living it now. Perhaps because I am a sales guy and travel quite a bit, it was easier for the transition, of that I do not know. My request for you is to continue to keep the industry honest and introspective. Good show!
(Submitted by a VP of Sales)

Re: The Effect of Industry Consolidation
Um, wow, the bookstore wanted me to *give* him copies of my zines for free (only paying for shipping, gee thanks!) so he could get an infinite profit margin on their sales. Well, I guess if any publishers were foolish enough to do that, it would have propped up Magpie a little longer, but it sounds like if that was his business model, he was emulating his mascot a little too well. Everyone knows that magpies *steal* their loot wherever they can get it.

Word to Magpie -- I actually have to make money on my newsstand copies, or I'm out of business, too. Advertising is a good part of my business model, but old-fashioned circulation (including the 2/3 of my copies sold on newsstand) are absolutely essential to my bottom line. I sell direct to stores, at 50% off cover, no returns, no shipping charges.
(Submitted by a Publisher)

Re: If You Have ChaCha , You Have Answers
I just tried Cha Cha. Wow. Very clever!
They make their money from issuing two text messages for every question you ask, and taking as commission from the phone company.
Kudos to the one who figured this out.
(Submitted by a Senior Vice President Marketing)

Re: If You Have ChaCha , You Have Answers
Bob, Your newsletter is like nothing else. ChaCha indeed. Each morning I never know what to expect and you never disappoint. The fact that you managed to link ChaCha to publishing was brilliant. I would never have heard of it if not for your daily interpretation and inspiration. Fun and informative . . It doesn't get any better than that.
(Submitted by a multi-title Publisher)

Re: Condé Nast Eyes Eye-Tracking
While it has some benefit if you think that online advertising is just about branding - but if advertising is also about engagement with the audience - then the metrics have to be built right into the ad (ad widget) itself. Eye tracking was very interesting a couple of years ago but the direct measurement systems have greatly matured. You can imagine what data will be soon available from DoubleClick + Google Analytics - across ALL digital mediums.
(Submitted by a Publisher)


RE: Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. -- Theodore Roosevelt
TR was an interesting and, in some aspects, an inspirational figure. The sickly mama's boy who made himself into a man's man, a man of action is an iconic American adventure of the first water. As U.S. president, he was significantly less admirable; being the very prototype of the modern busybody bully boy chief executive. But he did get off some good sayings. Without having heard it before, at least that I remember, the one above has always been my approach to my work. And the TR quotation I have posted on my bulletin board offers similarly useful advice: "Do what you can where you are with what you've got,"
(Submitted by a Printer)

Re: The New Hampshire working forest is in crisis
Sad story, but the same here in Wisconsin and we have a much bigger stake in the forest industry than New Hampshire. The whole picture across the USA is pretty sad. The Finns and Swedes are also feeling the same pinch.
(Submitted by a paper person)

Re: Now Fashion Mags Make Models 'Fatter'
So now you can have big boobs, fuller thighs, no bones showing . . . and a tiny little waist? My gosh! Why do magazines insist on manipulating women's bodies like this? I am with Susan Ringwood. The industry is missing the point so egregiously that it would be guffawable if it weren't so devastating.

. . . . Or maybe they're not missing the point at all. It seems to me that "fill out their chests" may not be such a laudable move. Could it be that "social awareness" has now become just an excuse to hide behind while you're turning women into hourglass cartoons in the hopes of selling more mags?


Re: Now Fashion Mags Make Models 'Fatter'
Bob, I don't know if I should complain or compliment. I really like the new look to your newsletter and you seem to have more great info than ever before. The snippets at the margins are a terrific new addition.

As to the retouching of magazine models . . . it has been happening since magazines were first produced. The magic is much easier now but no different than when I designed my first advertisement in the late 1960s. Please keep up the outstanding work. Oh Yes, my complaint is that your newsletter is so sticky that I read it all every morning. Coffee, Bosacks and a cheese Danish.
(Submitted by a Retired Publisher)

Re: Newsweeklies Under Constant Pressure
Oh please, this again?
Haven't we been talking about the demise of the newsweeklies since the '80's?

Also interesting that the article does not talk about The Economist. I believe that their last ABC report showed single copy sales up around 10%. And their sales are double what they were in 1999.

Could it be that Time, Newsweek and US News are having trouble because they aren't relevant? Could the relativity issue be more to the fact that those three magazines aren't well designed for today's market? Could it be that Time and Newsweek can't make up their minds if they are celebrity rags or news mags and US News can't reach a page count where the purchase of the magazine at the newsstand would justify the expense?

Could it be that The Economist is doing well because it is well written, has thoughtful articles, has a bite, an edge, a point of view, and is thick enought to justify the cash you have to lay out to buy it?

Isn't Rule #1 of magazine publishing would be to create something that your readers want?
(Submitted by Anonymous)

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: New Language, The Printer, Mag Efficiency

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: New Language, The Printer, Mag Efficiency,
www.bosacks.com

RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: The World's Newest Language
As a seasoned production veteran, experienced with glue pots to laptops, I would like to answer your question. No, I no longer look at my job as a manufacturing job. I see it as a digital creation and output position. We create and design ads and magazine pages that are then output to paper and to digital edition. The work (the job) to me is in the process, not the result.
(Submitted by a Production Director)

RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: The World's Newest Language
Bo, that was a great riff and a great Bo Speaks Out. Yes, things have changed and changed greatly. I am pretty damn sure that my old boss who was in the industry for 40 years could not have kept his job under today's conditions. He taught me so much of the business and left just in time. He was one of the old style mentors. Do we have any of those left? Keep up the great work. You keep me informed and employable.
(Submitted by a Director of MFG and DST)

RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: The World's Newest Language
Prepress is everything that happens before you bend 'em and send 'em.
(Submitted by a printer)

RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: The World's Newest Language
I prefer Techish to Nerdic. Jonathan
(Submitted by an Unknown)


RE: BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Mag Efficiency, GM Ads, Revenue and Green Pubs
Bob: I just finished reading this RSO and felt compelled to comment on the last exchange - "print 10 and sell 3" - as you noted, this is specific to the newsstand copies. Do you have any data on the total % of copies delivered to an end user via newsstand sale and/or subscription? I once worked for a multi-title publisher (Meredith) that had magazines that ranged in distribution from 100% newsstand to >98% subscription so I am fairly certain that on the whole, 70% of the magazines printed are not tossed. I'm sure that I won't be alone in appreciating a more accurate reflection of the "waste" magazine production.
(Submitted by a paper person)


RE: BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Mag Efficiency, GM Ads, Revenue and Green Pubs
No doubt that the newsstand situation is broken. When in history has 35% efficiency been a laudable goal? The greenies and extremist tree huggers have plenty of dirt on the ink-on-paper set, we don't need to help them fill their shovels by giving them more data to twist to meet their needs. I've been in the industry (printing, then publishing, now paper sales) for 22 years and hope to get at least 20 more out of it. As you know there are a great number of good people working diligently to increase the effectiveness and environmental friendliness of ink on paper while still trying to turn a reasonable profit. Times are tough and will surely get tougher, with a lot of hard work and a little luck, we'll continue to reduce the waste and make the business more "earth friendly".
(Submitted By a Paper Person)

RE: green
Hey Bob, you know I'm sorta an old deadhead/hippie/liberal freak.
But, I just don't give a darn about these "green" initiatives. The only thing I care about is that's green is the paper with dead presidents on it. Let the print/paper/information industry rape the earth. It's gonna happen anyway. Might as well get mine. Besides, we're all gonna die from an attack anyway.
(Submitted by a Senior Director of Manufacturing and Distribution)


RE: Today's Top Contrarian Pick
I like the new look to your blog; you seem to be busier (or more efficient) than ever; the snippets at the margins of your blog are as interesting as the body of text; Keep up the good work. In Paragraphs 9,10,11, the author of this article seems to have taken a page from Sacks. For all those who predict the eradication of print, they're likely wrong . . .
(Submitted by a Publisher)

RE: "Now Amazon wants to Eliminate the Printer."
it is what it is . . . the Darwin model fits for business as well as life.
(Submitted by a Senior Director of Manufacturing and Distribution)

Re: Quebecor World may Lose parent's Printing Business
Would this qualify as the first recorded instance of the ship leaving the sinking rats? I'm just asking.
(Submitted by a Printer)

Re: Quebecor World may Lose parent's Printing Business
Here's a novel thought why not call the Quebecor World spin-off, World Color Press?
(Submitted by a Traffic Director)

Re: Canadian newspapers avoid U.S.-like decline
Ummmm . . . they're not exactly comparable

canada has never had as big an emphasis on sunday circulation, with some having weekend papers

there has always been a bigger emphasis on nondailies in canada. nondailies in the u.s. are doing well here, too.

there are fewer "big metro" dailies in canada of the size of the u.s. "big metro" dailies because there are fewer "big metros". few people realize that toronto is the fourth largest metro area in north america, but there are few canadian cities that can muscle their way into that list.

canada's economy is smaller than california's, with a population spread over a land mass that is larger (ok, most of it is within 100 miles of the u.s. border, lest we forget that toronto is more southern geographically than minneapolis).

its newspaper industry's very nature means that overall it have more going for it demographically and economically than that of the u.s.

as far as western canada goes, that economy is just booming because of the rise of commodity prices. few people know that our biggest source of imported oil is canada. on a trip west last year, the number of help wanted signs was staggering. the economy in the western provinces is far different and "newer" than the older eastern ones, and in the long run, is probably more robust, even if commodity prices pull back. canada newspapers are probably a good place to keep investing, while in the u.s., it's the big metros that are having the problem, and the more "canada-like" small and mid-market segments in the u.s. is kind of an untold good story. when elephants fight, the biggest losers are the ants, as they say. there's lots of good stories out there that are getting trampled.
(Submitted by an Industry Pundit and long time e-pal of BoSacks)

BoSacks Readers Speak Out; Editors; We Are Not Worried!

BoSacks Readers Speak Out; Editors; We Are Not Worried!
www.bosacks.com

RE: Magazine Editors: We're Not Worried About Internet
Wow! Remarkably misguided even for insular magazine insiders.
(Submitted by a Director Of Technology)

RE: Magazine Editors: We're Not Worried About Internet
It is the idiocy correctly depicted here that is destroying our industry. These editors have no clue, no clue whatsoever. They make too much money. Someone should take away their expense account and let them see what is going on in the real world.
(Submitted by an Editor)

RE: Magazine Editors: We're Not Worried About Internet
I think this falls into the category of "ignorance being bliss" for many. They aren't afraid because too many still don't get it. And that's just the Editor. The Publisher has a whole slew of problems of their own. I was at an event the other day and spoke to the Publisher of a large home decorating title. We were discussing the problems they are having in being innovative with selling ad packages that include the web, events, etc. After 10 minutes of chatting about things like Stylepress, new digital opportunities etc. her comment was "You need to help me yell at my sales team, they just don't get it".

So the bottom line is there are still an awful lot of smart people not "getting it". Newspapers are heading into oblivion and magazines should be the bright and shining light, but it may take another slight generational change to get the right management minds - both editorial and business - in place to fully grasp the situation and drive the transition to new mediums. Not sure that means editors are going to become "brand managers" quite honestly, but they probably will be much more market savvy. Actually the concept of Editorial Brand Managers is a little bit disconcerting, dumbing down journalism to aid and abet the sale of washing machines and Rolex watches :) Why does progress have to imply a dilution of what makes the whole magazine experience great?
(Submitted by a Publisher)

RE: Magazine Editors: We're Not Worried About Internet
Yep, that makes sense. The tactile experience will save the medium. Just look at what the intricate album covers of the 60's and 70's (Sgt. Pepper, Kiss' Love Gun, and oh so much more) did to keep music from going digital. Not even embedding premium access and videos onto CD's has been able to slow the move to digital. Come to think of it the tipping point was a great device backed by a quality and sensible way of obtaining music. Once that cat is skinned the gooses will be cooked.
(Submitted by a Printer, media enthusiast and aspiring futurist)

RE: Magazine Editors: We're Not Worried About Internet
Bo, Its management like this that depresses me. The industry can and should have a great future. All it takes is good leadership. Have you seen any? The bigger the publisher the less vision and flexibility the corporation has. There must be a Murphy Law in that statement somewhere.
(Submitted by a Circulator)


RE: BoSacks Readers Speak Out: What is a Magazine?
Bo, Until the last print subscriber goes, it's still a magazine. That day is still a long way off.
(Submitted by a Sr. Production Manager)

Re: Magazines Face Curbs to Photo Airbrushing
I have a slightly biased opinion in this being that outside of my work for a national distributor--- I do a lot of work with digital art. I have been recognized for my skills in Photoshop and take pride in helping models take their images to another level. The problem here is not what artists such as myself do to images or if magazines use them. What's being discussed is how manipulation alters perception of reality causing models to go down unhealthy paths---

The modeling industry is extremely demanding and there are millions of people in the US alone aspiring to be the next great model. If manipulating photos to achieve desired results becomes frowned upon . . . models will have to struggle that much harder to look "perfect." The root of the problem is not how we get to an image considered ideal or adequate for print, the problem is what is considered ideal.

Taking manipulation out of the equation at this time . . . will just make it that much more difficult for a model who doesn't meet industry standards. Nearly all new photographers consider photoshop today's dark room . . . . and the manipulations being discussed aren't limited to what's being done in print . . . it's being done by many people in every town in the country . . . and it's becoming easier for people every day.

What people don't recognize is that there is already a shift happening. As average photographers can more easily make a model look perfect by standards of old--- the challenge becomes to make a model look more perfect in a natural way. Flawless skin will start to look plastic . . . assumptions will be made that it was photoshopped. Perfect curves will start to look too perfect . . . and assumed photoshopped.

Anything can be done with photoshop . . . and eventually people will attribute "too perfect" with photoshop. This will definitely happen as the market becomes saturated with images of models that look just as beautiful as the ones in the magazines. People go to magic shows not to see real magic but to see the illusive. . . Everyone knows that the images in magazines are altered to one degree or another . . . but the full extent of the illusion is not known. The veil is quickly being lifted. The magazines won't have to struggle to find a market for something for more real... less "air brushed," The market will want it before long.

When people like myself with a limited background in photography but years and years of photoshop experience can make avg girls look as beautiful as a model on the cover of Cosmo... centerfold of Playboy... etc it's just a matter of time before most photographers can. Every new edition of photoshop comes with tools that make it that much easier.
(Submitted by a PhotoShop user)


Re: BoSacks Readers Speak Out: What is a Magazine?
Bo, Way back in April 2002, The Smithsonian ran a piece by Owen Edwards (a senior consulting editor at Forbes in those days and co-author with Jim Clark of the book "Netscape Time") in which he wrote about magazines. The head was "A MAGAZINE SHOULD HAVE THE ZEST OF A GOOD DINNER PARTY" and in the article he said, "As an editor myself, I have always believed that the best magazines resemble memorable dinner parties . . . intimate experiences, aking to visits with knowing wordly acquaintances."
Old fashioned, maybe, but I contend that the best magazines today are still distinct organic entities which deliver a sense to the reader of having a conversation with a knowing wordly acquaintance.
Or has the world passed me by?
(Submitted by a Publisher)

FW: Today's Top Contrarian Pick
Good Morning Bob! I like the new look to your blog; you seem to be busier (or more efficient) than ever; the snippets at the margins of your blog are as interesting as the body of text; Keep up the good work.
(Submitted by a Publisher)

Re; PMG newsletter
Bo, I have to be one of your oldest, long time readers going back to the early 1990s. I have followed your point of view and proven accuracy with great joy. I wonder how many of your readers remember your prediction of CTP before it was even called CTP? What I enjoy the most is that you are what I would call a grounded futurist. All your prognostications have always been stuck with hard realism and bottom-line profit as a sobering benchmark for progress. And I think that is why you tend to be correct on so many issues. It is the stable business sense behind the predictions that makes your observations so valuable. Anyway, all I wanted to say was that I love the new look of the newsletter. The sidebars are a great new feature, almost as good as the quotations.
Thanks for all the hard work and terrific information.
(Submitted by a Multi-Title Publisher)

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Magazine Efficiency, GM Ads, Revenue and Going Green

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Magazine Efficiency, GM Ads, Revenue and Going Green
www.bosacks.com

Re: What Is a Magazine?
I'm sure that everyone has a different opinion as to what a magazine is, and who knows?-maybe everyone's right.

Your definition (metered or paginated, edited, designed, date-stamped, permanent, and periodic) is very interesting. It shares some similarities with the USPS's qualifications for periodical postage, which, like yours, are based largely on form and not on content. In very broad terms, the postal regulations define a periodical by saying that it must be:

-Published at a stated frequency of at least quarterly
-Printed
-Paid or requested by at least half of its subscribers
-No more than 75 percent advertising

Of course, both your definition and the USPS definition apply to newspapers as well as to magazines. Your definition could arguably apply to catalogs, too.

Call me simplistic, but I think it's more useful to think of magazines as a cross between newspapers and books. Like newspapers, they're published periodically, which imparts currency to their contents. Like books, they're dedicated to one topic, theme, or purpose, which they tackle in some depth and in an assortment of ways.

In July, 1900 Arthur Reed Kimball wrote in The Atlantic Monthly that the function of a magazine "is to interpret the significance of life as it is being lived, after it is mirrored, en passant, in the press, but before its perpetuation in the book." Kimball may have used formal prose, but he came up with an interesting way of describing the medium.

On a slightly different note, I don't know why ASME shouldn't give awards to Web sites, especially if the substrate doesn't matter.
(Submitted by a Publisher and a BoSacks Cub Reporter)


Re: Mag Industry Inches, With Some Success, Toward Efficiency
The excerpt from the circulator about sounds like it could have been submitted by me.
The first time I asked my national distributor about retailer locations it took two weeks and several follow ups to get a response. Later when I offhandedly asked about nationwide retail locations, the ND did admit that they had the info but couldn't give it to me unless I pay an annual fee for use of their data sharing software. Which still does not pull complete retailer details. I felt I had to back them into a corner by saying that my company pays them to distribute my magazines but they cannot tell me where they distribute them to.

It seems like an unbelievable runaround. In this techno age of information when we can seemingly push a button and get a detail of the national debt we still cannot get real time sales data or distribution information. The real time data would better drive a Publisher's marketing initiatives as we would more easily be able to see where our best sales are coming from.

If this is remedied by SBT, then I feel we should move forward with it. From the publisher's perspective we still need to tread lightly as we have not seen all of the pitfalls here, but to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the future isn't going to help anyone. Yes, there are many middlemen here in the whole distribution scheme, but it seems as if they are a "necessary evil". But like it or not we are all on the same team. We are all behind the counter waiting for the consumer to purchase our magazines. It is unfortunate, however, when the $2 to $7 are passed across the counter everyone is scrambling, clawing and scratching to get the biggest piece of the pie.

It is also unfortunate that I can foresee that the increase in costs, the lack of immediate data and slowed sales will drive a Publisher further away from print and closer to the web.
(Submitted by a Production Manager)

RE: BoSacks Speaks Out: GM rethinking about Mags and Branding
Bob, The targeted marketing campaigns by GM are very effective, I know this because I'm selling new GM cars and trucks after being laid off from my production operations job. GM is marketing to all levels of past and future consumers. I have seen internet coupons and printed coupons at the dealership. The marketing campaign is delivering these targeted offers how ever the consumer wants them. In addition they are in newspaper print ads and on the TV. The sales team is allowed to call these people for a follow up call.
(Submitted by a former Production Director)


RE: Husni Vs. BoSacks - The Whole Experience vs. the Hole Experience
Bob, I've been a long reader, studier, and huge fan of print magazines. I've tracked their successes, their failures, I've tried to educate my customers about their trends to better serve the needs of publishers and mag advertisers. I've been fiercely loyal to print. I've purchased hundreds of newsstand copies to the tune of thousands of dollars (and NOT on an expense report). My very livelihood depends on the success of magazines. I've worked to convince advertisers of the importance of the tangibility of that printed piece.

You know what? I haven't bought a magazine for 10 months.

I realize now that I didn't buy them for the paper, or the convenience. I bought them for the content, and I found a better way to get much higher quality content. Jezebel.com has replaced any random women's title (my intro was from an ADAge. Com article). I've literally replaced every bit of content that I once got from mags with free content on the web.

Now, I still buy print. Mostly books (lots of engagement hours for the money) and newspapers (lots of info for the amount of money) when I travel. Magazines fill neither niche . . . high cost for the time of engagement provided. The exception, of course are magazines like Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Esquire and Atlantic Monthly. And I feel THIS is the category of mag that will survive. Keep up the good work!
(Submitted by a Vocation Unknown)

Re: How Eco-Friendly Can Green Mags Really Be?
How many puglishers who use recycled paper in the print process, use paper proofs in the proofing cycle? GREEN????
(Submitted by a Printer)

Re: How Eco-Friendly Can Green Mags Really Be?
It is not possible to be Green and be a print publisher. You can write about green initiatives, and proper business thinking, but you cannot be a green print publisher. The carbon footprint is impossible to justify. You can have a smaller footprint than another publisher, but the difference is hardly noticeable.
(Submitted by a multi-title Director of MFG)

Re: BoSacks Speaks Out: Biggest Ad Revenue Plunge in 50 Years
Your faith in the future is not only inspiring but also on the mark.
(Submitted by a Publisher)

RE: MPA Retail Conference and Time Inc's Green Thinking.
So where is the new model or opportunity of selling magazines on a direct basis - no returns . . . SBT will do some of that but what about selling, packaging combos or multi copies, distributing copies for further readership instead of shredding so many copies - many of which have never seen the light of day.

I could package 5 issues of a celebrity title for $10 a summer pack but there is no outlet . . . or the cost of the nat Dist, Wholesaler, retailer eats up the cost of packaging and marketing . . . We need to use our product to market the category - encourage returns for further readership and get ABC on board . . . . but it seems it is too expensive to get them back.

RE: MPA Retail Conference and Time Inc's Green Thinking.
Hello, I am surprised by the figures you mention : " We print 10 and sell 3 " How can that be ? Is it not rather that 10 is printed and 3 are unsold?
(Submitted by a Paper Person)

BoSacks Reply to the Paper Person
No, I am sorry to tell you that we print 10 sell 3 and 7are unsold. This is the newsstand average. It is real and has been that way for a very long time. That is a huge problem in the 21st century.

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Evil Mantra, Scan Based Mags and Husni

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Evil Mantra, Scan Based Mags and Husni
www.bosacks.com


RE: Is the Real Mantra? Be Evil. Very Evil
What happened to words like trust, ethics, civility, common courtesy, or morality (not to be confused with "religious")? Articles like this make me want to quit my job and live in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Thanks for sharing this, I needed a little fire in my belly this morning to get the juices flowing.
(Submitted by an innocent bystander)

RE: Is the Real Mantra? Be Evil. Very Evil
Google has me scared . . . really scared. I am fearful as a publisher, as a father, and as a citizen in an open democracy. Where does this intrusion end? Can it actually end? The genie is out of the bottle. We have willing given out information everywhere to everyone. I can't see a way to stop this and at the same time I am fearful of it, even though my business does it's best to collect the very same data.
(Submitted by a Publisher)

RE: Is the Real Mantra? Be Evil. Very Evil.
Privacy. Hm. What's that?
Well let me give another example of a "time bomb".
Let's say you sign up with Earthlink.net for an email address. You use it for a couple of years and then something better comes along. So you cancel your Earthlink.net account and signup with your new subscriber. You take the time to make all the changes to all your accounts, you think, so they send messages and newsletters to the new account.
Then one day, a year or two later you get an email from a stranger. They have randomly chosen your old email account. An account that Earthlink.net conveniently re-activated as an available email name since you were not using it. This stranger tells you he was able to access your Classmates.com account using your old email address. How? Well, since he now has your email address, he can conveniently say he lost his password and they'll send him a new one, to the email address! Voila! Access to an account and ANY information, credit card info, personal data, that may be there. And, the stranger says, that any email list that you were on that hasn't updated their list, he is now receiving. Oh boy, you'd better not let you Mom/Wife/co-workers see THAT newsletter. That could be embarrassing. If the stranger wasn't an honest person, well let's just say that blackmail and identity theft from an old email address pops into mind.
So what do you think? How many of you dropped your dial-up email address for a new DSL email address? Did you know that your email address is being recycled?
Just something to think about.
(Submitted by a Paper Person)

RE: Jerry Seinfeld quote
"There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men don't think there's a lot they don't know. Women do. Women want to learn. Men think, "I know what I'm doing, just show me somebody naked.""
Jerry Seinfeld quotes (American television Actor and Comedian, b.1954)

I love this quote! And it's pretty much exactly what Mike LaFavore was told when he presented his pitch more than a decade ago for a new magazine idea: Men's Health.
Fortunately, Men's Health has proven Jerry's comment to be largely -- but not entirely -- incorrect. Men's Health does have a lusty "Cex & Relationships" section - and Cex is always a top-ranking Web feature as well.
Men DO want advice. They just don't want to admit it.
(Submitted by an Editor)
(BoSacks has intentionally changed the word CEX to hopefully bypass silly corporate filters that have no understanding or sense of proper usage and propriety)


RE: Scan-Based Trading's Hold-Up
A couple of comments . . . .
SBT is a way of the future - no doubt about it. Why in your whole story on SBT was the term "Issue code" not mentioned? (I searched) Simple scan based trading is logical and can apply to gum, except we change our product every week/every month and want to know if Angelina outsells Posh Spice. Retailers have not come to grips that requirement. Shall we change the manufacturing code every week as I believe People does? Then there will be 10,000 bar codes in the system. Also - not all retailers scan . . . will wholesalers have 2 classes of retailer. Many independents will likely never afford SBT.

It was also amusing when in the same set of BOSACKS emails, one had advertisers demanding magazines be more environmentally friendly then in the second email they we being suspicious of any audience calculations. The fastest way to efficiency in the use of magazines is to count pass along. To demand inflated circulation for the sake of rate bases is environmental hypocrisy - and a poor business model as well.
(Submitted by a Director, Consumer Marketing)


RE: Husni Vs. BoSacks - The Whole Experience vs. the Hole Experience
Bob, I've been a long reader, studier, and huge fan of print magazines. I've tracked their successes, their failures, I've tried to educate my customers about their trends to better serve the needs of publishers and mag advertisers. I've been fiercely loyal to print. I've purchased hundreds of newsstand copies to the tune of thousands of dollars (and NOT on an expense report). My very livelihood depends on the success of magazines. I've
worked to convince advertisers of the importance of the tangibility of that printed piece.

You know what? I haven't bought a magazine for 10 months.

I realize now that I didn't buy them for the paper, or the convenience. I bought them for the content, and I found a better way to get much higher quality content. Jezebel.com has replaced any random women's title (my intro was from an ADAge. Com article). I've literally replaced every bit of content that I once got from mags with free content on the web.

Now, I still buy print. Mostly books (lots of engagement hours for the money) and newspapers (lots of info for the amount of money) when I travel. Magazines fill neither niche . . . high cost for the time of engagement provided. The exception, of course are magazines like Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Esquire and Atlantic Monthly. And I feel THIS is the category of mag that will survive.
Keep up the good work!
(Submitted by an unknown Publishing Professional)


RE: Husni Vs. BoSacks - The Whole Experience vs. the Hole Experience
Bo, Your on-going debates are a joy to be a part of. You and Samir are both passionate defenders of your particular points of view and both unyielding of your turf. I think Samir is on the wrong side of the equation, but I applaud his last man standing approach. Having seen you both several times, you both make terrific and convincing arguments. I would see you again at any given moment. But Bo, is more correct than Samir. Magazines will be around for a long time as Samir says, but it will be the digital world where all the action and the advertising dollars will be. And that is coming from a multi-title print publisher. But in my niche, my readers are saying they prefer the digital path 2 to 1. I will not argue with my bread and butter as they pay the bills and the digital subscription fees.
(Submitted by a Multi-Title Publisher)