Devdas Bhagat wrote:
On 12/06/06 11:17 +0530, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
On 6/12/06, Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray debarshi.ray@gmail.com wrote:
And why do the buses and trains require you to buy the tickets? Only to pay the drivers? I thought they ran on some fuel too.
My point was simply this - tech magazines costing at 100-150 INR are difficult to get hold of for many. So whatever LinuxWorld introduces, if it's at 150 INR then it will get the same or a little more coverage than the Digit, PCQ, et al regardless of the content.
I don't disagree. However, I would rather that some people went to libraries[1] (or borrowed from friends) rather than trying to cut down magazine prices by having bad content. Three people buying the magazine and sharing it will reduce your price per subscriber to 1/3 of cost price.
Speaking as an accountant and a costing / pricing advisor, I agree with what was said earlier. You need to cut down the price. Even though I can afford it, I think twice before buying a magazine at Rs. 150 (or even Rs. 100) a pop. Few people will want to buy a magazine on sharing basis. It does not work.
Cutting down the cost (and therefore the price) by using cheaper paper (less glossy ? and thinner), doing away with CDs are some of the options you will have without affecting user experience. Value Engineering philosophy says do a cost control on what is not the basic desire of the customer. If the content is good and the magazine is prices at Rs. 40 or so, many more people will buy it, irrespective of whether the paper is shiny or now.
Devdas Bhagat [1] I used to read Nature from the British Council Library. I still can't afford to subscribe to that magazine :).
In today's work environment, how many people can afford to go to British Council Library (or any library) to read magazines ? Many of us still read in transit or in the few leisure hours of morning or after dinner. I wish I had time available like you to go to the library.
Regards Saswata
Devdas Bhagat