Recycled PBO, won't buy another copy!

[Jcorstorphine]

Just bought my copy of the January 2013 PBO today and was looking forward to the latest tasks undertaken by the PBO crew in restoring ‘Hantu Biru’ Sadly, all I could find was a review of this years activities.

I keep vowing to stop buying PBO as I have almost every copy back to No 1. There is little new under the sun and often we get trotted out the same old features such as fitting out, winterising and so on but at least these are new scribblings wheras this months offering is recycled 2012 articles.

To now simply dredge out this years articles in order to pad out this months edition is a very poor show by the Editors of PBO. Why should I pay £4.20 out of my pension to read scribblings which I have already bought and paid for.

Having spent the equivalent of well over £2000 at today’s value in buying this magazine over the years, no 556 January 2013 will be my last.

Sarah Norbury, please note.

 

[Frayed Knot]

I stopped buying PBO and YM a couple of years ago for the same reason + the very obvious bias towards their better advertisers in their "independent" gear tests

 

[NB Willawaw]

I guess it's always a problem for magazines. They try and balance sales with advertising revenue. I prefer the free magazines which finance themselves with adverts. At least you know they will be biased.

Are digital magazines the way to go as they will have lower costs and this should be reflected in the retail price ?

 

[MrCramp]

I used to buy PBO and YM and ceased a couple of years back for exactly the same reason, recycled articles. To make it worse recently the quality of some articles is diabolical, eg the "Motor Sailors" which hardly covered many models and did not get the facts correct about Colvic Watsons.

 

[Ru88ell]

At least we get a years worth of articles. Parenting magazines operate on a nine month cycle. Wedding magazines probably even less.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I quite enjoyed the latest PBO. It's true that their is a fair bit of repeats over the years but that's because there is only so much you can say about repairing/owning boats and for, people just getting on the roundabout, articles about anti-fouling or removing sea cocks are interesting and new. Reviews of electronics are useful in a rapidly evolving market.
I'll keep buying it.
GM

 

[DanTribe]

Well I thought this months edition was an improvement.
A bit more emphasis on the DIY improve and mend philosophy I used to enjoy and a bit less of the " buy more new shiny stuff to keep our advertisers happy"
I suppose they can't please us all.

 

[Norman_E]

I was actually very pleased with the January 2013 issue because of the test report on connecting different makes of NMEA2000 instruments together. That is something I am just embarking on.

 

[maxi77]

I guess it's always a problem for magazines. They try and balance sales with advertising revenue. I prefer the free magazines which finance themselves with adverts. At least you know they will be biased.

Are digital magazines the way to go as they will have lower costs and this should be reflected in the retail price ?

Ah but YBW wants to charge the same plus VAT. It apparently costs them as much to get the digital version to you as the paper one, though if you cough up for a paper subscription they throw in the digital one for free. You work it out

Spending most of my time abroad I no longer buy the magazines on a regular basis and refuse the digital extortion. Also I have little faith these days in the gear tests as they will only test gear given to them for test, no secret purchasing etc and key manufacturers often omitted. As for the reviews they seem little more than product placement adverts

 

[Jabamusic]

I stop every couple of years. Giving it a break prevents buying repeats of how to "prepare for the season" and "how to prepare for the winter"- type articles with only the occasional interesting article in between.

Not sure what the solution is, but it is a lot of money to pay for adverts and boat sales!

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Ah but YBW wants to charge the same plus VAT. It apparently costs them as much to get the digital version to you as the paper one, though if you cough up for a paper subscription they throw in the digital one for free. You work it out

Spending most of my time abroad I no longer buy the magazines on a regular basis and refuse the digital extortion. Also I have little faith these days in the gear tests as they will only test gear given to them for test, no secret purchasing etc and key manufacturers often omitted. As for the reviews they seem little more than product placement adverts

Agreed.

Anyone that tells you a digital distribution costs the same is either lying or in deep need of help to source alternative suppliers for the digital distribution.

VAT is IMHO an anomaly. I see no logical reason for different treatment of alternative media.

The government seems so desperate to tax everything we do I am surprised they missed this opportunity.

 

[dylanwinter]

the power of the floating subscriber

I stop every couple of years. Giving it a break prevents buying repeats of how to "prepare for the season" and "how to prepare for the winter"- type articles with only the occasional interesting article in between.

Not sure what the solution is, but it is a lot of money to pay for adverts and boat sales!

I think that you make a good point

I think that changing magazines is a good idea - just as you should change your daily newspaper and even the people you vote for.

I confess that I had stopped buying PBO for a few years - but it was always the one I would pick up first at the railway station or when on holiday

I preferred it because it did not write so much about the sort of boats I now know I will never be able to afford. Not quite so many items of chartering in the BVI's (whatever they are)

However, if you want to influence the way magazines are going then you must occasionally become a floating subscriber

and maybe even send an email to the magazines saying what you do and don't like

GHowever, I think that recently PBO have been taking on some really good freelances and paying them untold riches for their fascinating in depth stories of old outboards and galley boxes

as for the product tests - I was impressed with the outboard test I was involved with - it was as thorough as you could reasonably expect it to be. I chose my outboard on the basis of the test so it had a major influence on the way I spent my £1000

Dylan

 

[Tam Lin]

I've said this before, PBO with Tesco Clubcard points - good value! As with any single interest magazine there is a limit to what you can cover without repeating yourself. Personally I like to read about the things people have done to their boats, the places they have been and what has happened to them. Like Dylan I am not so interested in the latest boat costing more money than I will ever have but I suppose it keeps the manufacturers happy! It is the same with car magazines and Top Gear, seldom a review of the latest Ford Fiesta, more likely a Ferrari, Aton Martin, or other Supercar all of which I have given up dreaming about owning!

 

[RobinBirch]

Likewise I gave up my sub for Classic Boat some 18 months ago owing to repeat features and too much high end stuff pandering to the 'hobbies' of wealthy corporate advertisers. If you maintain/sail a Hillyard there's only so much interest in £1M+ restorations

I buy the odd copy now and again and was in WH Smiths at the weekend - thought why not, something to read over Xmas. Well firstly, it was already the Jan issue and secondly one of the 'features' was how to make a saw rack. Well, I made one of those as a project in first form woodwork in the 60's. Needless to say I saved myself the £4.50!

 

[Highndry]

Are digital magazines the way to go as they will have lower costs and this should be reflected in the retail price ?

The costs aren't appreciably lower. You only save the actual print and until EVERY potential reader has a tablet AND prefers to buy/read on that medium, you can't do away with the print entirely. The less you print, the most the cost per printed copy goes up.

It's also worth bearing in mind that there's no VAT on printed mags but your digital version, if paid for, does attract VAT.

 

[grazbo]

PBO is the best of the bunch in my opinion.

I think it provides value for money. What else can I spend a few quid on that allows me to escape for an hour or two ? 10 fags ? 1 beer ?

For me, as a magazine it serves its purpose and I will always buy it before any other boat rag.

Personally I don't mind reading articles written for newbies to boat ownership and sailing. There is a spectrum of experience across its target readership and a little bit of something for everyone is a decent formula.

For all those who refuse to pay the price - I'll sell you my back issues for 50p if that helps.

 

[wotayottie]

Are digital magazines the way to go as they will have lower costs and this should be reflected in the retail price ?

Cheaper as with Kindle books??

 

[winsbury]

I signed up because of the offer of two free tickets to the Southampton Boat Show and as I'm restoring our first tiddler yacht and it seemed that there might be some useful advice. For the tickets alone it was a good deal but thats about it. Viirtually everything I've needed to find out in a timely fashion Ive gleaned from this or other similar forums; the equipment I needed I chose at the boat show and had nothing to do with the reviews in the magazine; its sorely lacking in projects that real people have to do; and finally the £500 hinty binti bargain bin boat or whatever its called taking up far too much of the editorial space and effort. Its a similar story with most specialist publications and as an advertiser myself in some of those for the outdoor industry I struggle to justify the budget for the dwindling readerships. Print really is in serious decline but its not helping itself when the quality of the articles is lower than free advice available elsewhere.

 

[Highndry]

Print really is in serious decline

But this isn't a print or digital issue as many people seem to think it is. The number of digital buyers entering the market is a fraction of those print buyers leaving.

To take the 'free advice online is the future' argument to it's obvious conclusion, do you think IPC would fund this forum if we weren't buying their magazines?

 

[winsbury]

Perhaps its invaluable to them as a source of feedback and material for articles and frees up their writers time to get stuck in mud on the East coast or restore worthless boats or whatever other folly takes their fancy.