I just downloaded Model Railroader on my Nook, must have just added it as I have not seen before. Got say it looks pretty good. Eventhough I get the hardcopy I think I will get it on my Nook too so I can read it work with leaving the mag behind and it will be good to take to the layout room and club. Double thumbs up Kalmbach
Aha!
I thought from the title that you painted a corner of your kitchen with Model Railroader’s cyan or maybe a particularly nice cover shot.
Guess I’m not up to speed on this tech stuff.
Ed
Don’t feel bad Ed, I thought the same thing too. LOL
And I’m a tech guy…
That’s pretty cool though, taking the magazine mobile.
This is good. I have been waiting to see if MR would come out for my nook color. I take that little thing with me just about every where I go. I can read, play games and do quite a few things with this little tablet/e-reader.
Massey
Well, many of the younger peeps will be glad to know that.
Some of us old foggies, however, will still want the paper finger-cutting version.
I have been THINKING about a tablet, but I would want all my fav Kalmbach publications to work on it.
Maybe now I can think harder???
[8-|]
Guess I’ll have to borrow my wife’s Nook to see how it looks.
John
I will have to check it out to see if I can find it on my Ipad. I have already been reading R&R and RMC which released an app for their mags last month.
Chris
Oh, yay…let’s all applaud a device that’s already put thousands of Americans out of work and is threatening every book-related profession other than author and publisher. Hip, hip, hoo-frickin’-ray. Pretty soon (10 years or less), there won’t be a single bookstore left in the country.
Paul A. Cutler III ← bitter family-owned bookstore employee
I can sympathize, but time marcheth on. Qui non profict deficit. Time waits for no bookstore…etc.
The iron horse killed the ‘other’ horse business.
On a more personal and practical level, my wife has arthritis in her hands. It hurts her to lift large containers of milk and to hold open stiff books. But reading is how she gets to sleep at night. So, a tablet of some kind is a Godsend to her. Sorry, but this is the way of the future.
Crandell
Let’s please not turn this discussion into an argument.
Hey Steve is Kalmbach going to offer us paper subscribers a discount on the digital issue as well? At $42.96 per year for the digital version that is more than I usually pay for the print version you all mail me every month. I would be a full time subscriber of both if this were the case, but I cant honestly see spending that much for what I already have even if it does mean some convenience as I usually have my nook around all the time. Just a thought.
Massey
Lemme see. Railroad employment went from 1,500,000 in 1947 to 226,000 in 2009. Doubt there’s a single boilermaker, telegrapher, comptometer operator (I saw a pic of 100’s of them in a single room in a 1959 SP Bulletin article) left. There are no more agent/operators because no one uses TT&TO on any railroad operated in 1:1 scale any more since radios and track warrants made them redundant.
How about all the buggy makers who went out of business because of the automobile?
A merchant sailing ship was extremely labor intensive. A modern diesel powered container ship can get by with a crew of 13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Mærsk and move orders of magnitude more cargo than a 19th century merchant vessel. Actually, a modern ship (of any type) is vastly more productive than ships in the past.
How many lamplighters did the electric streetlight put out of work?
Need I mention all the weavers that the mechanical loom put out of work.
Now that I think about it, think of all those poor scribes that the printing press put out of work.
Things change.
Andre
One issue of this weeks WSJ had an article about the price advantage of ebooks disappearing because publishers are controlling the price of digital books. This is something they are unable to do with the printed versions. Thus some of the best sellers are actually selling cheaper printed vs digital. If this trend continues the pace of e-reader sales may slow.
I believe school and college books are the perfect market for ereaders. The editions change so often on these books plus most local school boards want custom books for their districts. What better way to accomplish this than digital?
However, readers expect the savings of digital vs printing to be passed along.
Jay
This very topic mentioned by garr was discussed on CBC news up in Canada last night for the late major newscast. Some authors are trying to get publishers to reduce the prices of ebooks because they have stalled sales generally. An interviewed publisher reminded the viewers that a publisher is not the printer of the books, and sometimes publishes under license or agreement without holding the actual copyright. They are distributors and purveyors, not printers. So, they have costs, including those that don’t change just because it happens to be the e-version. For example, we still like the covers…meaning graphic artistry that must be conceptualized, debated, decided, and then produced, sometimes with the input of various kinds from several people, all of whom need to be compensated. I didn’t pay a lot of attention, just an ear as I was working, but that was her response to the expression of dismay by at least one author who had finally managed to get his publisher to reduce the prices to encourage e-sales.
Crandell
I’m waiting for a magazine option liek they have for the newest books. I do not think I should have to pay full price again to get an electronic version of the paper magazine I’m already subscribed to. They did right witht he new books, for a couple dollars more you get both the print edition and an electronic version. This is reasonable. For now it sppears the only way I cna get an electronic copy of MR is to pay full cover price or a full subscription on top of what I already pay.
For a publisher who actually ‘gets it’ about ebooks, see Baen There are some publishers out there charging MORE for an ebook than a printed copy - this makes no sense whatsoever.
–Randy
TO the staff of Model Railroader,
Is there going to be any incentive for subscribers of the paper magazine to also subscribe to the digital form? I pay about $36 per year for my paper subscription like most of us here do but to get a full 12 months of the digital mag it is roughly $42 and some change. Where is the incentive to buy the digital form? Also do we actually keep the digital form for ever or does it “expire” after a certain time. Also is pricing for this in your control or in control of publishers like others here have suggested. As of right now I am going to stick to my paper copy, even though I own a nook color and practically take it with me all the time.
Massey
I was playing with a Samsung Galaxy in the Verizon store the other day. About the size of a DVD box, and I was able to navigate the web, post to the forums, and even read a digital magazine on it.
I feel old.
Wait a year or so & get your books from a used book store for 10% or less of the original cost. You probably won’t see a used download store.
Used books are the best bargain out there. It looses no real value from being read & costs less than 10% of the original cost.
I ownder if MR is on hte Kindle FIre???
I also wonder if my current paper subscription would transfer??? I’d hate to pay for it twice…I don’t expire til 12/2012.
I am thinking of getting a Kindle Fire…
[8-|]
To answer a number of common (one might even go so far as to say “frequently asked”) questions:
Yes, special pricing is available for magazine subscribers. If you already subscribe to the paper version, you can add the digital version for just $10 more. And vice-versa.
If you get the paper version now and you want to get ONLY the digital version, you can switch over your current subscription for free! Just call Customer Sales & Service at 800-533-6644. (And you can switch back at any time for free, too.)
Our Kindle Fire edition is available through Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Model-Railroader/dp/B005ZWBLEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324393955&sr=1-1 Unfortunately, the way Amazon runs their newsstand, you have to buy issues there individually, which means no subscription discount. I’m afraid that’s out of our control.