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Post by spinno on Apr 7, 2024 10:40:01 GMT
Only subscription I have is Private Eye!
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Post by Chester PB on Apr 7, 2024 16:44:34 GMT
I'm puzzled why anyone would spend £140/year on a magazine that they find has no content that interests them. If this were the case I would have abandoned my subscription by now. However, there is usually just enough content of interest to persuade me to continue (also, until now I have been paying £102 per year). I'm on a quarterly direct debit, so if AP finally turns into 'What Smartphone' I can quickly stop the subscription.
I am curious to know if the Editor and publishers believe that the mobile phone content helps the sales of the magazine. What I do notice is that it does not bring in any additional advertising revenue (are any of these devices advertised in AP?), which suggests that the manufacturers do not believe being featured in AP helps their sales. Am I correct to suspect that they depend of social media and peer pressure for this, so an AP review is irrelevant? |
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Post by spinno on Apr 7, 2024 20:42:34 GMT
I'm puzzled why anyone would spend £140/year on a magazine that they find has no content that interests them. If this were the case I would have abandoned my subscription by now. However, there is usually just enough content of interest to persuade me to continue (also, until now I have been paying £102 per year). I'm on a quarterly direct debit, so if AP finally turns into 'What Smartphone' I can quickly stop the subscription.
I am curious to know if the Editor and publishers believe that the mobile phone content helps the sales of the magazine. What I do notice is that it does not bring in any additional advertising revenue (are any of these devices advertised in AP?), which suggests that the manufacturers do not believe being featured in AP helps their sales. Am I correct to suspect that they depend of social media and peer pressure for this, so an AP review is irrelevant? But does the review end up on the website or other social media? |
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Post by zou on Apr 7, 2024 20:54:45 GMT
The idea that any printed magazine review will make the difference seems, well, dated.
I suspect the review culture still exists because that's what they've always done, not because it's actually making a difference.
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Post by peterob on Apr 7, 2024 21:26:02 GMT
The idea that any printed magazine review will make the difference seems, well, dated. I suspect the review culture still exists because that's what they've always done, not because it's actually making a difference. I think they (written reviews) still have their place, even though a large part of the world gone mad today seems to buy stuff on the basis of what an "influencer" on the internet says. |
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Post by spinno on Apr 7, 2024 22:17:23 GMT
The idea that any printed magazine review will make the difference seems, well, dated. I suspect the review culture still exists because that's what they've always done, not because it's actually making a difference. I think they (written reviews) still have their place, even though a large part of the world gone mad today seems to buy stuff on the basis of what an "influencer" on the internet says. I think effluencer is a more appropriate description for some of them... |
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Post by geoffr on Apr 8, 2024 5:58:32 GMT
I have stopped reading lens reviews, none of the ones reviewed recently will work on my cameras and, in many cases I already have something that covers the same focal length. I don’t read phone reviews either, I had a new phone a few years ago, it is still supported and running the laters OS, I rarely use the camera. Equally I wouldn’t spend £1,000+ on a phone, I actually use mine to make phone calls!
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Post by peterob on Apr 8, 2024 7:35:59 GMT
I have stopped reading lens reviews, none of the ones reviewed recently will work on my cameras and, in many cases I already have something that covers the same focal length. I don’t read phone reviews either, I had a new phone a few years ago, it is still supported and running the laters OS, I rarely use the camera. Equally I wouldn’t spend £1,000+ on a phone, I actually use mine to make phone calls! Not much point reading reviews that aren't relevant. Ditto phones. A phone is a phone though I was cross that I had to change mine recently because the 3G network is being turned off this year and I might need to have one to pay to park the car occasionally because ticket machines are not being replaced. We had terrible trouble the year before last at Bude and my son had to pay (by phone). It was new too - only bought in 2015. They are a terrible price. I had an iphone for work since 2008 and I've got used to those. Much better than the Blackberry I had before. |
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Post by zx9 on Apr 8, 2024 8:39:02 GMT
The idea that any printed magazine review will make the difference seems, well, dated. I suspect the review culture still exists because that's what they've always done, not because it's actually making a difference. I think they (written reviews) still have their place, even though a large part of the world gone mad today seems to buy stuff on the basis of what an "influencer" on the internet says. This is true, influencers on the internet have replaced influencers writing in magazines, one could argue that it was just as insane to purchase into a camera system on the basis of enlarged images of a ship's portholes. |
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Post by peterob on Apr 8, 2024 9:03:50 GMT
I think they (written reviews) still have their place, even though a large part of the world gone mad today seems to buy stuff on the basis of what an "influencer" on the internet says. This is true, influencers on the internet have replaced influencers writing in magazines, one could argue that it was just as insane to purchase into a camera system on the basis of enlarged images of a ship's portholes. That is a bit extreme. I remember a ship (mooring on the Thames, near-by the then AP offices) was used in lens tests but I don't remember port-holes specifically. Indeed that would be no reason to buy into a camera system. |
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Post by Chester PB on Apr 8, 2024 21:27:20 GMT
This is true, influencers on the internet have replaced influencers writing in magazines, one could argue that it was just as insane to purchase into a camera system on the basis of enlarged images of a ship's portholes. That is a bit extreme. I remember a ship (mooring on the Thames, near-by the then AP offices) was used in lens tests but I don't remember port-holes specifically. Indeed that would be no reason to buy into a camera system. I think this was HMS Belfast, which has been moored on the Thames since 1971. For may years it was one of the subjects used for AP lens and film emulsion testing, so the enlargement of part of an image that included a porthole could show the sharpness of the lens, any distortion and film grain. Having every lens and film emulsion tested on the same subject might also help with comparing the quality of different lenses and films. I assume the pile of old cameras and film boxes that AP uses today serves the same purpose, since any offices used by the staff are now a long way from HMS Belfast. |
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Post by geoffr on Apr 8, 2024 22:14:53 GMT
That is a bit extreme. I remember a ship (mooring on the Thames, near-by the then AP offices) was used in lens tests but I don't remember port-holes specifically. Indeed that would be no reason to buy into a camera system. I think this was HMS Belfast, which has been moored on the Thames since 1971. For may years it was one of the subjects used for AP lens and film emulsion testing, so the enlargement of part of an image that included a porthole could show the sharpness of the lens, any distortion and film grain. Having every lens and film emulsion tested on the same subject might also help with comparing the quality of different lenses and films. I assume the pile of old cameras and film boxes that AP uses today serves the same purpose, since any offices used by the staff are now a long way from HMS Belfast. The ship used in lens tests wasn’t HMS Belfast. The AP offices were in or near the OXO tower, on the South Bank, the ship was moored on the opposite side of the river. HMS Belfast is also on the South side of the river. I think it might have been HMS President or HQS Wellington. A search suggests the ship was Wellington, it’s still there. |
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Post by geoffr on Apr 10, 2024 12:37:48 GMT
The issue dated yesterday, 9 April 24 arrived today, 10th. Not good service from Royal Mail. Not that there was much to interest me except the review of the Billingham 445 Mk II. Interesting but my Mk I is still doing fine so I won't be buying the new one. As always the best bits are the photographs.
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Post by donerundlecams on Apr 12, 2024 6:20:47 GMT
In the early 2K's, I used to purchase AP, in Vancouver, at one particular magazine shop when it was only one or two weeks out of date .. move ahead several years and now AP was around 5-6 weeks out of date and I would browse the mag ... around 2010 when, if I could find a copy of AP and it was several to 4 months out of date, I stopped looking  . Cheers, Jack |
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Post by geoffr on Apr 23, 2024 19:11:06 GMT
Whilst clearing up and consolidating my vinyl collection I found an old AP dated February 15 1978, the cover price is 25p. There were 62 pages on glossy paper, of which 15 were advertisements, out of 180, the other 118 being more advertisements on newsprint. Some of the advertisers are still with us MrCad and R. G. Lewis for example but many are long gone as are some of the manufacturers and almost all of the products are discontinued by now. One advert is for Ivor and Anne Matanle.
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