New DVD/Download "Build a Traditional Windsor Rocker" with Elia Bizzarri

[Mike Holbrook]

I have been waiting for this DVD, bought the download as soon as I got the notice it was available. Unfortunately as many of us have experienced in recent years the web site at Popular Woodworking Magazine just is not user friendly and often does not work. I paid for the download but I got no confirming email. The two parts of the video appear on my list of bought videos but when I follow the directions on downloading it to a Mac nothing happens. It seems PWM still has major issues with their customer interface at their web site. I would have been more cautious had I realize I was dealing with PWM but, the logo has changed making the Popular very small and emphasizing the Woodworking. Sort of seems appropriate and at the same time verrry sneaky! Just a caution for other potential buyers. I sent PWM a note expressing my continuing problems with their customer interface. I plan to send Elia a note or call him today too.

[lowell holmes]

That's sad. I have downloaded from their web site on several occasions and been satisfied.

[Jim Koepke]

Mike,

Are you using Safari as the browser?
I know sometimes with these problems they can be fixed by switching to FireFox or Chrome.

jtk

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

Mike, I've asked the eMedia and customer service teams to look into this ASAP and get it fixed. I'm sorry.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks Megan.
Jim, Safari is one of the most used, proven browsers out there. I don't think I will change browsers because of a single repeated problem at one web site. I have almost no problems anywhere else, tons less than I had with "Internet Exploder" or Firefox when I ran them. Still I understand your point, software gets more & more complex and there are issues with any and all software at times. In another life I worked with custom and vertical market software packages. Maybe I have a more critical eye having been on the other side of the fence. It just seems to me that companies should check to make sure their web site works with the latest version of the popular software browsers before they take the money for a download, not make the client jump through hoops to get what they paid for.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Megan.
Jim, Safari is one of the most used, proven browsers out there. I don't think I will change browsers because of a single repeated problem at one web site. I have almost no problems anywhere else, tons less than I had with "Internet Exploder" or Firefox when I ran them. Still I understand your point, software gets more & more complex and there are issues with any and all software at times. In another life I worked with custom and vertical market software packages. Maybe I have a more critical eye having been on the other side of the fence. It just seems to me that companies should check to make sure their web site works with the latest version of the popular software browsers before they take the money for a download, not make the client jump through hoops to get what they paid for.

Mike, I am with you on this.

The problem is some programmers are lazy or just down right ignorant.

When I first started selling on ebay and had a problem customer support informed me their site wasn't compatible with Safari and that I should use a PC to list items. Instead I tried Firefox and it worked. Since then if a page has problems I will copy the URL and paste it into Firefox. It seems to do the trick.

It is usually less than 1% of pages that display a problem.

Another reason to use a second browser is one can be run without cookies if you want to go untracked.

jtk

[Mike Holbrook]

I hear you Jim. I know the reason to do what you suggest, my brain just does not handle multiple environments well. It has nothing to do with me getting old or set in my ways though!

Now I have to back up and complement PW for getting this handled quickly. I just got a nice note from PW customer service with links that downloaded perfectly and quickly. They plan to have the site fixed later today, as I understand it. I think another poster on SMC helped move this along at PW. Thanks for the help!

I just watched a little of Elia's video it looks great and I look forward to studying it later tonight. I talked to Elia a couple weeks ago and he told me they were showing up in a few days to shoot the video. I had called with specific questions about his/Curtis Buchanan's Windsor Rocker plans. Apparently they shot the video and had it available for download in a week or two, so I guess I should cut PW a little slack in recognition of how quickly this apparently got done.

[Paul Saffold]

Since I don't subscribe to the monthly or yearly plan to view their videos I purchased it thinking it would be mine as in a download. But I was mistaken as I need to go to their site to view it. My mistake for not looking too closely. But I like the video. I think it offers another good perspective on chair making and is a good fit with Buchanan's videos and Galbert's book.

My only complaint is the lack of chapters. It is about 8 hours of video and you have the choice of "Part 1" or "Part 2". That's it. No description about what is in either part. This is not like a novel that one reads once and discards. I see it as a reference or training video. Unless you take notes and create your own table of contents with a minute count you'll never be able to go back and find a certain section without viewing the whole thing. Forget being able to click on a chapter and go directly there.
Yesterday I sent an email to Elia and to Farnsworth who I think produced it. Elia replied immediately. Haven't heard from Farnsworth. I am very disappointed something like this got past the producer, editor and management at Popular Woodworking.

But to repeat. The video has a lot of good information and Elia is very entertaining in his presentation.

Paul

[Robert Norman]

Somewhat OT, hopefully Megan and PWW will get ya fixed up.

I've downloaded from them and others and usually find I prefer the actual disc hard copy on the big TV method. Even as I get older it's damn hard to resist to that instant reward of the Internet even though I'll regret not spending $6 more and waiting 10 days.

[Mike Holbrook]

Paul, apparently I fell into the same "trap". I "bought" the download thinking I would get an actual download. When I tried to run what I thought was a "download" yesterday it would not run. Now I am assuming what I have is some sort of link or something, it had a weird file name that my computer rejected and changed to webarchive I believe. I have looked all over the advertisement I was sent and I do not see anything that explains that they are selling a service on their site not a download, how did you figure that out? I do not understand this, as anywhere else I am aware of on the internet, if it says they are selling a "download" you get an actual physical file with the text or video in it, which resides on ones computer and can be run there.

Robert, I am afraid DVD's will not last that much longer, going the same path as 8 tracks, cassette tapes, CDs, vinyl (although my daughter says vinyl is coming back ;-))...everything seems to be moving towards fixed memory instead of discs with moving heads.... More and more devices use smaller cards that take up less space and probably match up better to the solid erasable storage they use. Certainly solid storage is faster than having to search with a moving head, my notebook with all solid storage is tons faster on many operations. Storage space has gotten so cheap I am doubting removable storage will be required at all on many devices before long, iPhones, iPads and many notebooks get along fine without them.

The companies that rent software or information on the internet, typically are offering a product that is constantly being improved, debugged...not a video or text file that will remain the same for it's entire life cycle. If PW is trying to "rent" videos I don't get why they would think people would want to pay for it? Unless they plan to compete with the new guys on the block who are apparently offering new content all the time? If that is their intent they certainly should make that much clearer in their advertisements and on their web site IMHO.

[Paul Saffold]

I went to the PWW Videos website (https://videos.popularwoodworking.com) and before logging in I read thru their “Have a Question” section. They say that Adobe Flash is required and since I had removed it from my computer due to it’s frequent security concerns, I installed it again. I was thinking perhaps the chapter list and function wasn’t appearing because of the lack of Flash Player. Well now their video won’t play at all so I uninstalled the Adobe Flash player again.The video plays again. I have Apple’s Safari so maybe Adobe Flash Player isn’t needed. Not sure. I’m no computer geek. Still no chapter list which is my complaint.

If I had known PWW was going to offer the video in DVD format I would have purchased it rather than going the route I did. They first offered it in what was “Shop class on demand” and is now just PWW Videos, then a couple of days later offered it for download and for sale. I don’t have any particular problem with that kind of format but it isn’t my first choice. I’d rather not have to depend on my internet connection or their server or other variables that are eliminated by possessing the DVD itself. I have not had any problem logging in to their site.

[Mike Holbrook]

Maybe they are offering it in download, DVD or the on line format then? They changed the name of "Shop class on demand", that explains a few things I was trying to figure out too. I got an email advertisement in my mail offering a download or DVD, so my latest guess is that is what I was suppose to get. I had asked Elia to let me know when the video came out so I suspect he gave them my info., although I get frequent advertisements from them, due I imagine to past purchases. The note I got from customer service provided a link to a "download" which seemed to work at the time, lately what I thought was a download does nothing though. The note I got did say they were trying to fix the download on their web site and expected to have it working later that day. Maybe the new fix broke the old link, I'm grasping at straws now though. I will try to download from their web site again later today.

I just bought a 2TB Thunderbolt/ USB3 backup drive and we BU to an old Time Machine drive too. So it is easier for me to just keep everything in my computer's storage area. I have plenty of room and it is the easiest to get to, cheapest, easiest to move around between devices. My wife freaks out at the thought of loosing her pictures or song collection which are on her computer, so I try to stick to a file format I can BU easily and quicky for everything I can. I am sort of an old school computer guy who likes to have a couple generations of BU, just in case.

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

We offer a download (that is yours to keep in digital format) and a hard copy DVD of all our videos at shopwoodworking.com. The streaming site (videos.popularwoodworking.com) is a subscription site where we have all our videos available for viewing (you can also pay for access to one video and watch it there, but cannot download it – that is, you'll need an internet connection to view it). With the download from shop woodworking.com, you can keep it on your computer and watch whenever). Consequently, the price is a little less for the streaming version. Apologies for the confusion – I've asked the eMedia team to try to make all this more clear in future ads, tweets, emails etc.

[paul cottingham]

As i have mentioned before, Megan, dealing with your onsite help team is an complete and utter exercise in frustration. I gave up the last time, as they just stopped replying to my emails. Probably for the best, as they were getting ruder and ruder.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the clarification Megan. It is a little confusing as I have around 12 different advertisements in the last week or two from Shop Woodworking and Popular Woodworking sometimes on the same day. The information inside may or may not identify an association with Popular Woodworking. The new logo for Popular Woodworking Magazine is odd too as the Popular text is almost too small to see and the Woodworking is much bigger and bolder.