GM,
I probably should have
sent this earlier for all of your information, so sorry if I am a bit late to
the dance! I did send Bob’s message to some Directors, Vice
Directors and SMs who had to deal with the issue of the QST View product directly.
I want to emphasize
that we are not discontinuing the product altogether. As Bob explains
very well in his email below, the current product is old and has some major
league compatibility issues with current software. Please be assured that
we are currently negotiating with Terry Muncey of Radio Era Archives, who
produces the current product, for a more updated version, possibly available on
CD, DVD or even a flash drive.
There are also some legal
issues involved with this product that we are trying to work through as well.
73,
Harold
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent: Wednesday,
November 07, 2007 5:32 PM
To: 'Rich MC Clung'
Cc: Vallio, Bob (Dir, Pacific)
Subject: RE: QST CDs
Dear
Rich, WA6KNW
Dave
Sumner shared your message with the ARRL publication sales team. We have
received a handful of inquiries from Collins Radio enthusiasts this week
seeking background on our decision to discontinue the QST View CD-ROM collections. Most of this
CD collection was produced over 10 years ago, includes black-and-white scans,
and software that supports a limited search feature to browse articles by title
and author. The CDs were produced in sets covering 5 or 10 years of QST magazine, and each set includes
multiple CD-ROMs.
We
regret that some of the QST View
sets have stocked-out. We had recently investigated options for reproducing the
sets, recent customer feedback, demand, and alternative ways to fulfill this
digital archive. We learned the following:
·
The
current demand for QST View will not
support the expense associated with re-manufacturing, royalty, carrying costs,
and marketing.
·
We
receive increasing complaints about the resolution-quality of the page-scans.
·
Customers
have struggled with the product’s limited indexing and search capability
(no full-text search).
·
QST View is
increasingly incompatible with some computer configurations. We presently
fulfill the sets with a separate software engine on CD. Nearly half of all our
software support inquiries have been associated with these collections—which
is disproportionably high when compared to the little amount of support we
manage for our high-demand CDs such as The
ARRL Handbook and annually-produced periodical collections.
While
we are sorry to retire the current version of QST
View, we will continue to pursue a new path for managing
ARRL’s large collection of archived media in an electronic form. Some of
our initial research has included web-based solutions—all extremely
expensive and requiring substantial upfront investment (new scans, indexing,
etc.), for which we’re not sure we’ll recoup in demand. We’re
also investigating some on-demand CD/DVD manufacturing and fulfillment options,
though this option will still require an entirely new software product or a significant
overhaul of the current product.
We will
continue to offer the more popular annually-produced “ARRL Periodicals on
CD-ROM” product. These single-year CDs are available for 1995 through
present. This product supports a more enduring electronic media format.
Although
the current version of QST View
has reached the end of its lifespan, we want to assure our valued ARRL members
and customers that our consideration of alternatives is ongoing.
Sincerely
and 73,
Bob
Inderbitzen, NQ1R
Sales
and Marketing Manager
ARRL -
The national association for Amateur Radio
Telephone:
(860) 594-0213 FAX: (860) 594-0303
Email: rinderbitzen@arrl.org
World
Wide Web: www.arrl.org