Digital magazine

Got an email from Rockler today. They invited me to free digital copy of the Jan/Feb issue of Woodworks Journal. The subscription is 10 buck for 6 issues 20 bucks for the printed version and 24 bucks for both. Are any other magazines putting out a digital issue? Saves a bit of money plus you don't have to store it after you've read it.

http://www.zinio.com/express3?issue=337285059&ref_id=6501&ref_t=Z&originid=109627642
 
Fine Woodworking Online is a great resource. Shopnotes and Woodsmith offer online extras like cutting diagrams or variations on projects presented in the mag. Wood magazine has a pretty decent site but FWW is the only one I know of that gives you the whole content of the magazine online.
 
After looking through some of the content I find that I'd rather see it in a PDF format rather than the "Zino" format they're using. The pages are not displayed conveniently for my reading habits. With PDF you can look at one page and zoom to the size you want. With Zeno you can do 100% then 200%. I didn't see anywhere you could get say, 125%. Not being picky but I found it a bit frustrating. I kind of like the concept though. Should get an issue faster than what comes in the mail. Especiallyl here. We get the magazines about 3 weeks after they are on the newstands there.:(

PS. I don't think there is a way to save it to your HDD. At least I didn't see an icon for it.
 
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"I'd rather see it in a PDF format rather than the "Zino" format they're using."

If you're talking about FWW online, the experience must be different when you are logged in. I've been a subscriber so long I may have forgotten what it's like otherwise. When logged in, the articles, etc. are PDF and you can save pretty much anything you want (except maybe videos, I haven't tried saving them but it is not obvious if they offer it). I have a large collection by article type, author, project, plans, etc.

Their search engine is pretty good but I don't like the way they handle page histories. If I am on page 3 of the search results and open an article or a video, when I'm done and I exit the article, it takes me back to the first page of the search results. A minor thing but, after a couple years it starts to annoy me ;-)
 
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Royall,

I found that you can zoom to 800% of any page. That gets pretty detailed for me. The mouse can be used to push the page around for viewing.

I agree that you are limited to what sizes they have and no way to pick intermediate sizes.

Better than nothing, for sure.

I don't subscribe to any magazines so I can't attest to what time frame they show up in. I don't imagine they get here any quicker than they did years ago.

Thanks for the link,

Aloha, Tony
 
"I'd rather see it in a PDF format rather than the "Zino" format they're using."

If you're talking about FWW online, the experience must be different when you are logged in. I've been a subscriber so long I may have forgotten what it's like otherwise. When logged in, the articles, etc. are PDF and you can save pretty much anything you want (except maybe videos, I haven't tried saving them but it is not obvious if they offer it). I have a large collection by article type, author, project, plans, etc.

Their search engine is pretty good but I don't like the way they handle page histories. If I am on page 3 of the search results and open an article or a video, when I'm done and I exit the article, it takes me back to the first page of the search results. A minor thing but, after a couple years it starts to annoy me ;-)

He's talking about the Woodworker's Journal. I remember checking it (or another Zinio-based mag) out a year or two ago, and I agree with Royall...I wasn't inpressed with the ease of use.
 
you can save pretty much anything you want (except maybe videos, I haven't tried saving them but it is not obvious if they offer it).

Glenn,

There's a firefox addon that lets you save pretty much anything you can watch online:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006

Its worth its weight in electrons... ;)

I think fine woodworking and fine homebuilding are absolutely worth the price of an online subscription... not sure about the others... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
After looking through some of the content I find that I'd rather see it in a PDF format rather than the "Zino" format they're using. The pages are not displayed conveniently for my reading habits. With PDF you can look at one page and zoom to the size you want. With Zeno you can do 100% then 200%. I didn't see anywhere you could get say, 125%. Not being picky but I found it a bit frustrating. I kind of like the concept though. Should get an issue faster than what comes in the mail. Especiallyl here. We get the magazines about 3 weeks after they are on the newstands there.:(

.
I am in toal agreement.
 
Hi Royall and all
I must have something wrong with me. I still prefer a hard copy paper magazine. I dont quiet see myself in bed reading off a computer screen even if it was a tablet or going to the throne and reading off a computer screen behind the door.

As for the electronic version I like it but would want both. I really did not like Zino. I also prefer PDf and I would have prefered if the articles that had substance and that one would perhaps like to save in your own electronic filing system would be available to download as a pdf from the magazine and in one piece. I copied the article on the outfeed table in your electronic version but had to print to pdf to get each two page spread and then go and combine the files of the various 2 page spreads to get a single file. Thats way too much work.

As for woodworkers journal, I thought it looked too much like a trade magazine with all them adverts. And I dont like it when the adds suddenly start playing a jingle and running a small clip without you activitating it.

They helped me decide if that option came my way I would not entertain the offer.:(

Thanks for sharing with us though it is good to see what these guys have in the pipeline.
 
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