Dick, I accept everything you have said about current issues of news/information publications as regards older birds such as us. On the other hand, would it be desirable and, maybe, even fiscally responsible to post past issues of our major publications online? I don't know how far back doing this would be a relatively simple operation, but to the extent it would be an easy task to post existing digital copy on the ARRL web site, it might be a decent member service to initiate. Extending the thought further, would posting QST, QEX, etc. be something that Buckmaster, for example, may be interested in doing? I've not looked beyond there announcement that they are posting CQ online to know if there are charges for viewing the CQ online, but they appear to have gone much farther back than posting only digital copy. They have scanned hard copy to include in their postings. The question to me is whether Buckmaster is doing all this out of the kindness of their heart or if there is a fiscal benefit to them and to CQ as well. If such benefits exist for Buckmaster and CQ, shouldn't we review if we might capitalize on the same benefits in one way or another? One further point. Keep your bloody snow up there. We rarely have a single snowfall that exceeds about 3-4 inches. This last one dropped about 18 +/- inches of snow and a half inch of ice on the area. This is particularly troublesome for the Cincinnati area because we aren't equipped to handle it as well as northern cities and we also have so many southern drivers who have moved here and don't know how to drive on snow and ice. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je@arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: dick@pobox.com [mailto:dick@pobox.com] Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 12:12 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16582] Re:Buckmaster Announcement 12 MAR 2008 - 2311 CDT My thoughts on electronic publications... For my age, I'm probably one of the heaviest users of computers on the ARRL board and I fully support using electronic data technology whenever and wherever it's practical to do so. The under 30 computer users probably think that electronic magazines and books (E-zines and E-books) are the greatest thing since sliced bread. However, this type of publication does have it limitations. Most of the time the publication has to be either read on-line or down-loaded from a web site. Picking up the hard copy from a shelf, a chair, or the floor is easier, faster, and much more convenient. Reading a publication more than 4 or 5 pages long on a computer screen is not a convenient way of reading for those of us who grew up in the paper age. It's not easy to move and use the electronic reading device on a trip, in the bathroom, at the kitchen table while eating, or even when you are watching TV. You have to concentrate on the small video screens, or when using a large screen, you have to move your head to see who is talking to you and and answering the phone is more of a hassle. The overall cost is larger depending on how much you invest in a good dedicated portable reading device, and how often you feel the need to buy a newer one. My University Alumni Association, the University itself, and my fraternity are now using electronic publications to replace most of their paper ones. I, and a lot of other alumni in my age range offered to pay a bit more to keep receiving the paper publications, but we were ignored. Maybe this is the wave of the future, but I have dropped all financial support for these organizations because they no longer provide the paper publications I have received for over 40 years. I'm out of the loop and I will not donate money to an organization whose activities I can no longer easily follow. In the commercial world, I know of only one newspaper that has managed to make money from the electronic publication of its premier paper publication: the Wall Street Journal. I have an idea that most of their electronic readers are under the age of 30. As a paper subscriber to several newspapers, I have access to their electronic editions which is handy for obtaining electronic copies of various articles. But I doubt if I will ever read one of these electronic newspapers page by page. - Dick, W9GIG