Comment:

I think the demise of printed media is over exaggerated and I believe printed magazines are coveted by performance boaters to this day. Any arguments go the Miami/Los Angeles boat show and 90% of the people leaving will have a magazine tucked into some kind of bag.

Second, from an advertising standpoint the vendors still want printed medium not just flash banners on websites. Last time I checked this is the driving force behind magazines and content. If the day comes where the online outfit can provide better results. There might be a shift but until that time comes. The online source will just be secondary authority and supplemental to the printed media.

Third, magazine content is far different from the online content whose source can be dubious or difficult to find. If a buyer looks to online forums for their primary information they should consider a game of russian roulette. Whereas advertisements with printed contact, reviews and real water testing capture the buyers interest on multiple occassions i.e...everytime they open the magazine and show a friend, spouse or confidant. Versus going to a computer and visiting a website. It is far easier to say hey take a look at this magazine review... and hand the person the magazine. Old school you say Yes! but still very powerful.

Furthermore, it is rare that accomplished and experienced members of the performance boating building communities ever venture online to discuss the latest in product development. I always strongly urge them never to come into a public forum for any reason. Why, it is too easy to get slaughtered by a disgruntled person or even an envious competitor. One bad internet session can really hurt your business in a manner where you might not ever recover. Note: We all know this has happenned in this forum on numerous occassions.

Thus, the magazine and printed media will continue and it's page count maybe down but the real players understand the game and will continue accepting subscriptions for many years to come.

KAP

That laptop won't be much help when you run out of TP!!! :lolhit:

But in all seriousness I have a subscription and enjoy a well put together article w/pics rather them some scattered opinions and some spy photo's that I saw on the forums.