Fine Woodworking online subscription poll

Are you a subscriber to FineWoodWorking online site

  • Yes

    Votes: 16 30.8%
  • No

    Votes: 36 69.2%
  • Abstain

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    52
  • Poll closed .

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Okay I will try this one again.

So I have been wondering even though i am a subscriber to that fine magazine, FineWoodworking how many of our members are actually paying subscribers to the online side of the site.

Please vote in the poll.
 
Rob,
I was a 'charter' subscriber, so I only paid $14 to join, and they've been renewing me yearly at that same rate. I wouldn't pay the $35 (I think that's what it is now) though.
 
I'm an online subscriber, but I don't get the hardcopy version. They have a lot of info on the site, but I'm not sure I've gotten my $35 worth of good out of it.
 
Like Vaughn, I am out to save the environment and my office from being overrun with hardcopy. I like the organization and the ease of finding stuff without paging through 5 issues to remember "where I saw that". Their site could use some navigational re-vamping. One of my peeves is that if I get 10 pages of results for "boxes" and I open an article on page 5; when I leave that article I am taken back to the beginning of the search results.
 
I subscribe to the magazine so I get the on-line for the $14 price. I like both, it gives me something to read in bed, and if I need something specific I can go on-line.:thumb:
 
Something that intrigues me is that they have not come up with the concept of a "special " subscription price to groups. Say a FWW members special rate subscription just like a bulk buy. At the end of the day this type of site is all about subscribers. The cost is minimal so they need to get users.

Suprises me they dont do a survey to find out what the hurdle is.

Thanks for the participation.
 
I've thought about it alot. I've been a subscriber since the '80s, and I go online to find articles, then go to my bookshelf to find it. The videos they have are sometimes pretty good. Guess I've just been too cheap to pay the $14 or so for subscribers to go online.
 
I find the results of this poll so far and the comments quiet amazing.

What does it say about the online imformation business model.

Consider this on the one hand we have people who cut up a magazine and scan it to get rid of the paper clutter and convert it to digital. Easier to search, easier to store, no dust mights, silverfish, cobwebs etc etc or space taken up.

Then we get offered as subscribers enhanced media and support of articles in our magazine done for us and we balk at just over a Dollar a month for the service that takes care of storing it etc.

Looking at the stats here if they are anything to go by, the penetration rate so far is 32,5% . There seems to be a long way to go if they can persuade us to part with a dollar a month.

I am no salesman for them but surely we each waste more than that in some way shape or form. What does this say about the concept of going green and not getting a paper copy at all in the future. I mean most of us probably grew up with the print media world and are too set in our ways now to drop it. But will the next generation which seldom in our house will pick up the newspaper, actually abandon print all together.

I would love to hear more opinions on this one. It totally fascinates me the value perception that exists among us.
 
I find the results of this poll so far and the comments quiet amazing.

What does it say about the online imformation business model.

Consider this on the one hand we have people who cut up a magazine and scan it to get rid of the paper clutter and convert it to digital. Easier to search, easier to store, no dust mights, silverfish, cobwebs etc etc or space taken up.

Then we get offered as subscribers enhanced media and support of articles in our magazine done for us and we balk at just over a Dollar a month for the service that takes care of storing it etc.

Looking at the stats here if they are anything to go by, the penetration rate so far is 32,5% . There seems to be a long way to go if they can persuade us to part with a dollar a month.

I am no salesman for them but surely we each waste more than that in some way shape or form. What does this say about the concept of going green and not getting a paper copy at all in the future. I mean most of us probably grew up with the print media world and are too set in our ways now to drop it. But will the next generation which seldom in our house will pick up the newspaper, actually abandon print all together.

I would love to hear more opinions on this one. It totally fascinates me the value perception that exists among us.

The problem I have with it is that if you look at an actual paper magazine, it's about 80% advertisements and 20% content. Plus they are charging me for the magazine as well as charging the advertiser for advertising space.

[Rant]Really I think it's getting a little ridiculous. I get Family Handyman magazine. It was a gift subscription, and it has good articles on occasion. I counted the last issue and the articles took up something like 16 pages. The ads took up the other 70 or so pages if I remember correctly. It drives me absolutely insane to have to skip over three pages of ads for a DR trimmer to finish an article! [/Rant]

Now in addition to all that advertising that they make money off of, they want me to pay for their online content as well, which also has adds that they make money off of on it? I think not!

I think it would go a long way to help their readership if they offered as a free bonus to print subscribers.
 
Rob, I think part of why I haven't subscribed on line is the amount of time I would probably spend watching videos there. I guess one way to avoid temptation is to not get on board. Surely a buck a month is not much of a deterrent, OTOH, if it was free to print subscribers....who knows how many more folks would join.

Ken
 
i tried!!!

to stay out of this,, but in the last 25 yrs the print industry has funded my life. and now its on the decline.. and as for my own magazine issue, i have a room full of partially read mags, and had planned on keeping them but they keep coming. i get the good stuff out of them when they first arrive and then they set idle. i used to organize them and have a index for them but in todays world, the computer has pretty much taken away the need for any mag.. which is nice in one sense. that it should slow down the waste in trees and paper. i have looked at gettin there cd's that have the whole set of mags FWW. but havnt broke down far enough to drop the coin. i like kens idea of stayun away from the online subscription though,, because in order to read it you are in the house and looked to a puter again rather than doing something physical. and yes i still got to clean my room:rolleyes: but i havnt reupped any mags,, when they run out that is it. i will just have to rely on the family for my info:thumb:
 
Ahh but Larry there is one thing that you can still do with a mag that is printed that is not easy to do with the puter. You can sit on the thrown/john and read and you can take the mag to the bench with the plans or article to do what ever is being done from an article.

I have a big good quality screen but i still find myself printing something taking it to bed to read or sitting in an armchair and reading rather than at the puter screen.
 
...

Then we get offered as subscribers enhanced media and support of articles in our magazine done for us and we balk at just over a Dollar a month for the service that takes care of storing it etc.

Looking at the stats here if they are anything to go by, the penetration rate so far is 32,5% . There seems to be a long way to go if they can persuade us to part with a dollar a month.

...

I would love to hear more opinions on this one. It totally fascinates me the value perception that exists among us.

For me it would be $3 per month is you prorated the $34.95 annual cost, but the actual monthly cost is $4.99, as I'm not a print subscriber. I used to buy a fair amount of magazines at the newsstand, but quickly decided that I get more value from buying books.
 
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