Tuesday, December 1, 2009

php Architect: no more print version

The subject says it all: the publishers of the excellent php|a magazine have suddenly stopped the print edition. It has gone PDF only.
(Click php|a on the right to see my other blog articles about php|a magazine.)

This is such a shame: I would willingly pay much more for a print version than a PDF version. In fact I was doing exactly that. Then a year ago they turned everyone to be Print+PDF subscribers, cut the price dramatically, and gave me free extra 12 issues to make up for the price cut. In fact that only works out as 6 or so free issues, but as they were free I can hardly complain.

It is just a shame they fiddled with their business model, as obviously the price cut made the print magazine too expensive.

Why do I prefer the print version? It can be read on the train, read in the mountains, is light and portable. It can be kept on my bookshelf, pulled off and opened on my desk while I'm coding. As an author, a print magazine is also much more impressive. It is something physical I can show a potential client, something I can show my Mum.

2 comments:

Cameron said...

I agree with you 100%. Recently, I repurchased my sub, and have been looking forward to getting my magazine all month. When I downloaded the PDF, I noticed that the dimensions had changed. Only just this morning did it hit me that maybe they are just doing a pdf e-version.

My wife has her "Us Weekly". I wanted my PHP-Arch. Oh well.

Unknown said...

Hello Cameron,
Yes, and what has happened is that I now have a backlog of 6 or 7 php|a magazines to read!

I still haven't managed to get an e-book reader. Maybe if/when I manage to get an HTC Desire super-phone they'll be readable on that, but I suspect it will be too cramped. iPad is too expensive and too "apple" for me.

There are some nice colour e-ink products coming in 6-12 months. But I'll have a backlog of 18 php|a magazines by that point!