No, you aren't the only one.... I just subscribe for
the advertising now. When they start taking what I
said on the Mil-Veh list and publish that, then I
really begin to worry about where they are headed!!!!
I think that MV Mag has made the transition from a
hard-core enthusiast publication to something more
appealing to "Joe average" off-roader. Instead of well
researched articles they come up with the easy to do
space filling fluff (lots of pictures from Beltring
for instance that I can probably get the equivalent of
for free on MilWeb). For Krause to increase
circulation I guess they need to go where the people
are: how to put a V-6 in your GPW, Gumbo Mudders on
your Dodge, or building a plywood HMMWV.... After all,
it is now a business, not a Historic Military Vehicle
enthusiast's personal labor of love.
It seems that in the old days, authors would have
wanted to publish in MV Mag for the prestige status
they would get from other collectors. The articles
were in fact excellent from a research and
documentation point of view and could be used as
authoritative reference material for restoring your
vehicle. The content now seems much more subjective
("my M-37 rides better on radials than bias ply
tires") than authoritative. MV Mag needs to provide
things the internet can't.
In addition to the above, I think that MV Mag needs to
find more ways to compete with (or within) the
internet. I seldom use the phone to order parts when I
can just send an e-mail, and I have bought lots of
things (and many I probably shouldn't have!) thanks to
the Mil-Veh list. MV Mag needs a decent website for
one, where subscribers can access the ads and e-mail
sellers by clicking on a link. This can also be linked
to an index of commercial advertisers. Maybe even a
Yahoo Group for subscribers?
Well, what about it MV Mag? You can troll from
material on the list for publication, but will you
participate in the open discussion on-going right now?
I've provided my opinion (complaints) about MV Mag,
but I've also made some suggestions for improvement.
Let's turn this thread into something positive for the
hobby!
Brandon
--- Jim Rice <majrice@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I've been an MV Mag subscriber for 6-7 years now. I
> have noticed a general
> decline quality of the content. Granted, the look
> has been immproved in
> recent years, but I'd rather have the old plain look
> with quality than what
> it is today. All in all, MV Mag just isn't what it
> used to be. When it
> came, I used to read it cover to cover immediately
> and then reread most
> stuff again later. Now, I find I don't read large
> portions and don't find
> myself sidetracked from other tasks simply because
> the new MV Mag is here.
> It just doesn't have the strong attraction it once
> did.
>
> Am I the only one who feels this way?
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Mar 05 2001 - 07:58:35 PST