I subscribed to PC World's electronic version an

[Gromit]

I subscribed to PC World's electronic version and I'm starting to regret it.

Those stupid 'insert cards' are way too annoying. I can't figure out how to make them go away. I pulled up Zinio help and after realizing the the 'insert cards' and 'gatefolds' sections are mixed up, I found the following: To flip and insert card, move your mouse toward the outer edge of the card until the curso changes to an animated page-flip icon and then click.

Unfortunately, that just flips the magazine page, which of course has ANOTHER insert card.

What's the point?? I ALREADY have a subscription.

It's like Zinio makes reading an electronic magazine way too hard. I'd rather just carry the print version around. On top of this, the electronic subscription is more exepensive than a print subscription.

[wraith808]

I don't even know why they include the stupid insert cards in the e-versions. It is annoying, and I'd never use them for anything. With the increase in price, it would seem that they could *at least* remove the cards, and at the most reduce the number of ads. That's the main reason why I'm not subscribing to anything on Zinio (other than their limited offering).

[lcohen]

I think the folks at Zinio are trying to replicate the complete magazine experience.. They missed the one thing I allways do with my magazines though, hold them by the covers and shake them over a trash can for all of the inserts to fall out!

Of course, as an expat living abroad, I value zinio's service immensley, I used it a lot on my notebook PC but now on the tablet it is excellent. All they need is to get more magazines, and have an option to skip the multifold ads and the comment cards, but oh well it's a very good first effort that I am happy to pay for!

[Gromit]

In the same issue, I hit another 2 pages of insert cards. For these I was able to just page past them and then back and they went away. Actually, I paged forward and it took me to the page *prior* to the insert card. Another page forward and the card was gone. Weird. I still can't get past the first set though.

I also ordered MotorTrend for $12 (this was yesterday before the insert card troubles).

Here's a tip for getting Popular Science for free: I went to the help link on their web page. There's a section for each magazine they offer. I was scanning that and noticed Popular Science. I followed that link and noticed that there was a free subscription offer. It started with the December issue, but I got January and February today.

I hope I'm not exploiting some loophole. After $32 and insert cards that I can't get past, I'm not losing any sleep though. ;)

[Slate]

I decided not to use Zinio at all because of the stupid way they handle the insert cards and ads. I got totally turned off by the time wasting experience of clicking to get to the next page only to get a full page ad and having to click again. Likewise, d imagine that no one would use a company's web site if, when you clicked on a link, all you'd get is a full page ad, and then had to click again to get to the link you really wanted in the first place.

If I pay money for something software related, I expect to see no ads. I extend this to electronic magazines.

[Gromit]

The ads don't bother me. In fact, I prefer to have them as I want the electronic version to be just like the print version.

I just don't get the insert cards that are difficult to remove.

[gatorj24]

quote:Originally posted by Slate

I decided not to use Zinio at all because of the stupid way they handle the insert cards and ads. I got totally turned off by the time wasting experience of clicking to get to the next page only to get a full page ad and having to click again. Likewise, d imagine that no one would use a company's web site if, when you clicked on a link, all you'd get is a full page ad, and then had to click again to get to the link you really wanted in the first place.

If I pay money for something software related, I expect to see no ads. I extend this to electronic magazines.


But you pay for the print magazine, and it has full page ads. Whats makes the fact thats it electronic any different? If you want an ad-free magazine, but Ad Busters.... Guess what, that magazine costs over $6 an issue. The choice is yours.

I'm still stumped why people think they can get the same value online for less money and without the ad revenue.

/davewolf

[brammerf]

Can the Zinio Magazines be e-mailed? Somebody send me one copy of something you have. fbrammer@brammeris.com

[Corky]

Does anyone know how the costs of producing on e-zine compare to producing one on paper? Obviously there are no paper costs, and electronic distribution should be cheaper than shipping hardcopy. If the writing, editing and layout of the print magazine is already done in software, dumping the output into e-zine format might be trivial.

...as long as the market is willing to pay the same price as for the print edition, e-zines look like a good way to increase profits.

[gatorj24]

quote:Originally posted by brammerf

Can the Zinio Magazines be e-mailed? Somebody send me one copy of something you have. fbrammer@brammeris.com


Nope that's the idea. The files are protected by DRM.

/davewolf

[gatorj24]

quote:Originally posted by Corky

Does anyone know how the costs of producing on e-zine compare to producing one on paper? Obviously there are no paper costs, and electronic distribution should be cheaper than shipping hardcopy. If the writing, editing and layout of the print magazine is already done in software, dumping the output into e-zine format might be trivial.

...as long as the market is willing to pay the same price as for the print edition, e-zines look like a good way to increase profits.


But they arent the same price are they? The e-version is cheaper as I remember.

/davewolf

[Gromit]

brammerf: you can download some free issues at zinio.com.

I don't think the e-version is cheaper than the print version. PCWorld was $20 for the zinio version. I think I could get a regular subscription for cheaper than that.

[gatorj24]

quote:Originally posted by Gromit

brammerf: you can download some free issues at zinio.com.

I don't think the e-version is cheaper than the print version. PCWorld was $20 for the zinio version. I think I could get a regular subscription for cheaper than that.


Looks like 20 issues for $20 for the print.

/davewolf

[brammerf]

I've downloaded some of the magazines to check them out. I'm not impressed. I prefer to go to a web site and get the same information. I don't see how these electronic versions are going to go anywhere.

[Dennis Rice]

Too slow. Period.

I got PCWorld sub also, but performance is awful, even on my Dell 1.7ghz notebook. I would also like to be able to print just one story...

[Gromit]

I'm OK with the performance, although I had to turn off the page flipping animation. It usually never finishes animating and I end up with a page that's hard to read because one corner is still slightly turned up, compressing the text.

I wouldn't want more than a couple of subscriptions, but I like the idea of having reading material handy for when a wireless connection isn't available.

Is this a beta release of the zinio software?? There are just too many quirks and issues for this to be the final release.

[bnorris]

quote:Originally posted by lcohen

They missed the one thing I allways do with my magazines though, hold them by the covers and shake them over a trash can for all of the inserts to fall out!


:D Maybe they'll make that a Menu Option in the next version :D

Seriously though, here are a few things they could do that would really make the subscription worthwhile IMO

1) An option to read the magazine WITHOUT THE ADS! That way you get the best of both worlds...

2) Discounted subscription - makes sense. Why pay the same as an actual magazine when you are not getting anything tangible? Hell, you're saving alot of cost and trees...

3) FREE or massive discount for people who have a paper subscription. I have a paper subscription to several of the magazines they offer, why not allow me to DL the latest issue since I'm already paying? Or allow us to DL the previous month's later. There are places I go sometimes that it is inconvenient to carry my Tablet versus a Paper Magazine (hint, hint)

[csbrown]

I have the PC Magazine subscription. It’s WAY too slow. Absolutely hate the cards (I wouldn’t mind the ads if I could flip past them much faster).

I also don’t like their customer support system. I had a problem where I was getting an error box that said “SOAP configuration error. It had been working fine before this. I sent an email to customer support and got the equivalent of a FAQ back. It didn’t have the answer. I repeated this process four times until I gave up and uninstalled Zinio and reinstalled it. It seems fine now but I wish I could have spoken (via email) directly with a support rep.

[csbrown]

Oh yeah. It's also too expensive. I don't know what the guy that said "it should not be cheaper" is thinking. No printing or shipping costs. No return costs (for magazines that are not sold at the newsstand).

I think the idea of having magazines readily available is good but the current implementation is flawed. If I owned Zinio, I'd be working hard to establish myself before Microsoft decides to corner the market and wipe me out.

[laser]

csbrown

I also felt that the magazines were slow to tun the pages. I finally turned off the animations and the pages now turn as quickly as I can push the buttons. Prior to the change it was almost unbearable.

I thought this might help.

[Dr. Watson]

How can I improve the quality of embedded images in magazines ?

They are completelly unreadable for me...

Dr. Watson

[laser]

Dr. Watson:

I read magazines on my Toshiba. I have "first zoom" set to 2/3 so when I press the zoom button I zoom in on the right hand column. I use my pen to move around. All images look fine at this zoom level on my machine.

Let me know if this helps.