Done with WW Magazines?

[Michael Lutz]

I am quickly running out of space to store the WW magazines. I have about 10 years of FWW and Shopnotes, some woodsmith and Woodworking magazines. Last year I ordered a CD with the 2007 Popular Woodworking Magazines on it. I will probably do that again this year since I don't have the space for all the magazines and a CD stores much better.

Mike

[David Keller NC]

Hmmm - Well, the original question was "Done with WW Magazines?". My thoughts are extremely mixed. Despite extreme computer literacy with respect to the general population, I don't enjoy reading magazines on the computer screen, whether desktop or laptop. I think the reason is the inability to see a couple of pages at once, and having to sit up straight in the computer chair at the desktop or have a hot laptop on my lap in the easy chair.

Call me old-fashioned, but there's a lot of good things to say about paper publications, enviro-unfriendly though they may be. And they're analog - they'll be readable until the language significantly changes, which at least I think will be a few hundred years. I wonder about the ability to decode Adobe Acrobat v 9 documents several years from now.

However, my pet peeve regarding the mags I subscribe to has been the changes in an effort to increase revenue. Many of us on FWW Knot's have been blistering the ears of the editors for including tool reviews, power tool tune-up and jig construction articles as the main topic of content in the last couple of years. The aim seems to be "dumbing down" the content to appeal to beginning woodworkers, while totally forgetting that advanced content also appeals to beginning woodworkers - I remember reading my grandfather's FWW subscription in the 1980s for inspiration, though I was capable of none of the projects in it at the time.

This is my main fear with WoodWork magazine. Though the focus on "art furniture" doesn't appeal to me specifically, I do greatly appreciate the magazine's eschewing of tool reviews and other junk content. I wonder if the new publisher will keep that ban up, or they too will homogenize their content to "keep up" with the rest of the clones on the magazine rack.

[John Nesmith]

Is this the "Woodwork" magazine that several people have referenced?

http://www.woodwork-mag.com/

I googled it, and that seemed like the likely candidate. Unfortunately, it appears to only offer information about the current issue.

It seems that their bottom line might receive a significant boost by informing potential subscribers how they can take the magazine.

[Heather Thompson]

Is this the "Woodwork" magazine that several people have referenced?

http://www.woodwork-mag.com/

I googled it, and that seemed like the likely candidate. Unfortunately, it appears to only offer information about the current issue.

It seems that their bottom line might receive a significant boost by informing potential subscribers how they can take the magazine.

John,

Yes, that is the WoodWork magazine, as far as obtaining the magazine goes, I prefer a trip to the local bookstore. I love this magazine, it is the best source of inspiration short of the Creek.

Heather

[David Keller NC]

"Is this the "Woodwork" magazine that several people have referenced?

http://www.woodwork-mag.com/

I googled it, and that seemed like the likely candidate. Unfortunately, it appears to only offer information about the current issue."

John - that's it. I've heard quite a few potential subscribers complain that there's no facility for subscribing to the mag through the website. You can, however, view the contents of back-issues and order them. They also don't send reminders when your sub is going to run out, which is quite a contrast to the copious reminders that the other woodworking mags send. I'm guessing the turmoil over the publisher deciding to continue it and having another publisher take it up has left little resources for website improvements.