Infinite Loop to stop publication?
Robert Bernardo
publication stopped. In the May, 2004 editorial, Earl Williams tells of lack
of subscribers and the grinding costs of the publication.
The Infinite Loop reports on all Commodore news and other relevant news. Past
topics include the CommodoreOne/C1, the LUCKI Expo, the Commmodore
Direct-to-TV, WiNGs, the C= Micropalooza Show, IDE64, Geopublish, Retro Replay,
CS Doom 64, Godot, WCopy+, SCSI problems, Microsoft vs. Lindows, and booking
airline tickets (to C= shows). The Infinite Loop contains many color photos
and/or diagrams.
See Earl's editorial below,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
------
From: Earl Williams <earlw(at-no-spam)earl-ydesigns.com>
[snip]
I have a few things to say...
This is the turning point for the publication. If present subscribers and no
new subscribers submit new subscriptions, then I will have to end this
publication. I will refund, prorated, any funds due those few who are paid
through the next months and until next year. I enjoy desktop publishing, but I
need to at least have help and also some compensation for the time spent in my
quest to have a top notch, relatively, professional publication. I wish I could
afford to print this publication without having to worry about money, but it's
just not probable. After all, even though I don't make a profit, Office Depot,
Office Max, public service, Bresnan broadband, and the USPS are getting most if
not all of the budget.
Having cancer this last year is also a real priority maker; consideration of my
health alone is enough to bag the whole operation. I'm supporting a hobby. I
have another hobby -- fly-fishing -- which gets a fair amount of my time and
extra money and, lately, has been neglected. This [past] Expo [was] important
as I [was] talking and discussing alternatives for continuing some kind of
publication. Nothing is concrete; consequently, there is nothing to announce,
except hope of gathering some forces to keep a publication.
I am trying to have a life, instead of being "grumpy house husband". Who
knows... if I can stay away from the surgeon's scalpel, I may get a real job.
My German grandmother says often, "No loss, no gain". In other words, if you
don't risk losing anything, you don't get ahead. "Put your money where your
mouth is is what I grew up hearing. That's how professional sports started.
Prizes were awarded the winner and consequently, better and better athletes
started showing up. The games got more popular, because people liked seeing if
someone could perform under pressure, when the stakes were high.
So I've taken a risk and gained a lot of respect for people who REALLY publish
a magazine on a deadline and come up with advertisers and writers. People get
paid for performance or pay to have performance. If I say and do what I say I'm
going to do, then I get the prize. If I hit the ball only three times before I
get it into the hole, then I get paid. If I don't, I don't get paid and no one
cares. Profitability, performance, competition, legitimacy, and relevance are
words that come to mind.
Hobby - something a person especially likes to work at or study which is not
his main business; any favorite pastime or topic of conversation.
Profit - 1. the gain from a business; what is left when the cost of goods and
of carrying on the business is subtracted from the amount of money taken in. 2.
the gain from any transaction. 3. advantage, benefit, any gain resultin in
mental or spiritual betterment.
Performance - the act of carrying out, doing. (synonym) execution,
accomplishment, achievement.
Legitimate - allowed, valid, logical, or acceptable
Relevant - bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand. To the point.
I think these are words and thoughts to ponder since many of us have waited
many months, if not years, for products to be sent, produced, or perfected.
Therefore, no one can or should bitch since it's only a hobby. No big deal, no
deadlines, no performance anxiety...
Happy Commodoring!
The Infinite Loop
P.O. Box 746
Grand Junction, Colorado 81502
U.S.A.
Annual subscription rate
$21.00 US for U.S. addresses
$27.00 US for Canada and Mexico
$37.00 US for all other foreign addresses
Please make checks out to Earl-y Designs.
You can subscribe with a credit card using the PayPal service [link] at
http://www.Earl-yDesigns.com
Matthew Montchalin
|The Infinite Loop reports on all Commodore news and other relevant news.
|Past topics include the CommodoreOne/C1, the LUCKI Expo, the Commmodore
|Direct-to-TV, WiNGs, the C= Micropalooza Show, IDE64, Geopublish, Retro
|Replay, CS Doom 64, Godot, WCopy+, SCSI problems, Microsoft vs. Lindows,
|and booking airline tickets (to C= shows). The Infinite Loop contains
|many color photos and/or diagrams.
That last sentence about color photos sounded pretty good, but all that
stuff about mouse-driven programs and Windowish/GEOS-based stuff, implied
it is a far, far, far cry from what Transactor was in its heyday.
OTOH, the idea of having an IDE64 column in every issue is probably worth
subscribing for, for that alone.
Rick Balkins
"Matthew Montchalin" <mmon...@OregonVOS.net> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.44.040607...@lab.oregonvos.net...
Matthew Montchalin
If his Infinite Loop newsletter needs to reappear after going down,
maybe you and your friends could take up the reins and start publishing
it from Astoria/Seaside? Or maybe Lord Ronin could buy it out? (He
could always ask around for business partners that are willing to front
him the money to do this.)
The newsletter might become a highly technical newsletter with the
right people at the helm. (No more of that mouse-clicking pablum
and spoonfed stuff, something for people who actually know what they
are doing, and aren't afraid of bucking the tide and telling those
GUI people to take it or leave it.)
Rick Balkins
If the subscribers are interested in it. It will be there but I believe it
can be more comprehensive and provide more than that but we are talking an x
number. So a magazine should reflect the composited interest of the whole
user base within reasonable means.
"Matthew Montchalin" <mmon...@OregonVOS.net> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.44.040607...@lab.oregonvos.net...
> If his Infinite Loop newsletter needs to reappear after going down,
> maybe you and your friends could take up the reins and start publishing
> it from Astoria/Seaside? Or maybe Lord Ronin could buy it out? (He
> could always ask around for business partners that are willing to front
> him the money to do this.)
I would question that at the time. I would say this much - it depends on my
finances.
I have to take care of some things first.
Matthew Montchalin
|Hehehe - well, I think at the proper cost, the matters of articles and
|all.
What do you think it costs? A bulk mail permit is what, $400 or
something like that?
|If the subscribers are interested in it.
You can bore people with articles on GEOS, IffyDOS, and SuperCPUs
for only so long before they go back to their old tattered copies
of Transactor or Commander magazine.
|It will be there but I believe it can be more comprehensive and provide
|more than that but we are talking an x number. So a magazine should
|reflect the composited interest of the whole user base within reasonable
|means.
Well, don't just beat around the bush, put it in some other words to
really hit the nail on the head!
Matthew Montchalin
||all.
|
|What do you think it costs? A bulk mail permit is what, $400 or
|something like that?
|
||If the subscribers are interested in it.
|
|You can bore people with articles on GEOS, IffyDOS, and SuperCPUs
|tattered copies of Transactor or Commander magazine.
Really deep "how they work" articles were the best part about
Transactor magazine, especially if they included schematic
diagrams, flow charts, and assembly language source code listings.
And then there were the type-in programs you found in Compute's Gazette
and Commander magazine. (Honorable mention to RUN magazine for proving
that there actually was a huge BASIC faction out there, somewhere,
however hard to believe that was.)
OTOH, a good example of a magazine that didn't know how to stick with
a winning formula was Randy Chase's Northwest Users Guide.
As for a magazine that was too fickle for its own good, think of Loren
Lovhaug's Twin Cities 128 where the editorial control got placed in
the hands of people who just wanted to click a mouse and not be bothered
with how the computer really worked underneath it all.
Rick Balkins
stuff of interest to the subscribers base. If there are subscribers that
want stuff pertaining to GEOS then there should be. Though there shouldn't
be a constant same old stuff all the time. Maybe a periodical re-iteration
of past articles if there are new subscribers new to GEOS and want info. But
I think a magazine should discuss things of interest to its userbase.
Though - I would say it must be within economical means. I may be willing to
publish a magazine sometime in the future. Certainly - if there are people
interested in C-One than there would be a section on the C-One. Personally,
I would look at the whole basis on that. If there is advertisement - then
there would be an advertisement section but the advertisers would prepay for
that. What the subscribers pay for is the content. Say - pay for a 50 page
magazine and the cost is say is $7.50/mo. But it may be 60 pages with
advertisements but advertisers would have to pay for their advertisement
sections (whole page advertisement would = $0.25 per issue). But the
advertisers pay for that NOT the subscribers. They would basically pay for
the cost. In other words "pre-paid" advertisements paid by the advertisers
not the subscribers. Subscribers pay for the content plus cover and index
and table of content. Though there may be a limit of how many advertisements
per issue. For example - if there is 50 pages of content(including index and
table of content not cover) then there would be only 5 to 7 pages of
advertisement and the magazine would be 55 to 57 pages then add cover and
back-cover. A back cover ad would say $1. You can figure the formula.
Control the amount of ads to some level. Of course - first come - first
served for advertisers. Then again - this is just an idea in how a
traditional magazine would be formulated. Of course the advertisers would
have to create there ads to begin with.
I have thought about publishing a magazine but the question is why and who
would subscribe. I haven't yet committed to doing that.
"Matthew Montchalin" <mmon...@OregonVOS.net> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.44.04060...@lab.oregonvos.net...