AACA Magazines now on USB.

K

Kevin in NJ

Well-known member
FWIW,

I got my latest AACA magazine and found that you can buy all the past issues of the magazines on one USB for $99.

I am hoping the Model A clubs go that direction. I have a mostly complete collection of both Model A club magazines I would love to sell off and go electronic.
 
Now if only MAFCA or MARC would see fit to put the Judging Standards on line, maybe with a password or email address ID for those who have paid for it, so its readily available at car shows and dinner discussions. That is how my local newspaper gives me an on-line version in addition to my paper subscription.
 
Bruce Adams said:
I think FLASH DRIVE or memorry stick is how it comes. I believe USB is the Plug.
Click to expand...
AKA "Thumb drive" (The vendor calls it a "USB Drive")
 

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Why don't they just upload them in the cloud and just sell a login and pass code like
a digital movie much easier, faster and cheaper for them, they don't have the cost of the drive the time to load each drive and the mail cost. My developer uses several services
like this for our business, and still charge the same amount which isn't that much.
 
How long until the data is all over the place with no money exchanging hands with the AACA?

How many download books, music, movies etc without paying a dime?
 
In my humble opinion, all clubs could do themselves and their hobbies better by placing knowledge online for free. Oh but how would they make money to keep themselves a float?? Well they could use advertising for one, and donations for others. They could still make money from the printed additions --I'd still buy them...

If you think about the history of printed book vs hand written books, the mass explosion of knowledge sharing due to lower cost or printed book changed the world forever. Open and sharing of information only benefits all.

Think of these fell fellows who did well by doing that:

http://www.google.com/about/company/
 
Mike V. Florida said:
How long until the data is all over the place with no money exchanging hands with the AACA?

How many download books, music, movies etc without paying a dime?
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That likely already happening with each groups information. It will always happen and it is proven to not be effective to not embrace the facts.

People have already scanned in the Model A magazines for themselves. I am sure some have already been shared.

As for the business model. Some people want the physical magazines anyway. Others get the copied information because they want to see if they they like it. Often a percentage of the people will then spend the money for a legal set if they feel it is a useful product. Yes, a portion of the people will not buy the set.

The music industry found this to be true. While they still maintain their copyright prosecutions, they also know piracy adds to there business model. Many people want to hear the music before they buy it. In fact the piracy levels dropped when the music groups started giving the music out for free on places like Youtube. Sales have been pretty good of the music still. They make lots of money.

It is matter of adapting to the new technologies.

If the clubs want to get the young crowd they had better start embracing the technolgies a bit harder. They need more going on with the websites and they need to be less stingy with the information. Stop worrying about selling the info and remodel the business to work with the future. You have to make it tech friendly.

A good point is to consider is how the technical information has become less important with the advent of Fordbarn. You do not need the 12' stack of magazines full of mostly dated information. You go to the net to get the current accurate information.

I do not know the best solution, but I do know that we should probably be looking what clubs for younger cars (the have younger people) do and figure out what works.
 
good answer Kevin and may i add that for every stick they sell its 99.00 found money that they would have never of had... the magazines come free in the mail with an AACA membership every 2 months.. i dont think they are worried about piracy of past issues..
 
I had two nearly complete sets of the Restorer that I tried to sell on the mafca site. Got a couple of calls and there appeared to be no interest in my asking price so I offered to box them up and send them to a few guys for free, if they would pay the shipping. I eventually dumped them as there was no interest even for shipping costs. One set was complete with all the early issues.
 
todd3131 said:
Why don't they just upload them in the cloud and just sell a login and pass code like
a digital movie much easier, faster and cheaper for them, they don't have the cost of the drive the time to load each drive and the mail cost. My developer uses several services
like this for our business, and still charge the same amount which isn't that much.
Click to expand...
I for one wouldnt trust "The Cloud". I'd rather have something I can hold in my hand. Who knows what would happen down the road and you would be cut off from the info.

daveymc29 said:
I had two nearly complete sets of the Restorer that I tried to sell on the mafca site. Got a couple of calls and there appeared to be no interest in my asking price so I offered to box them up and send them to a few guys for free, if they would pay the shipping. I eventually dumped them as there was no interest even for shipping costs. One set was complete with all the early issues.
Click to expand...
Damn, I hate I missed that. I've always thought there is a lot of good info out there that is gradually slipping away.
 
I guess I should weigh in here. Many years ago I scanned in the first 10 years of The Restorer and made that available to MAFCA. They currently sell it, with a linked index, for $12. Over 4 years ago I finished scanning in the first 50 years of The Restorer. That is 300 issues, about 14,000 pages. It took about 250 hours to scan in all 50 years. I also modified the index which is available on the MAFCA site to have links to the individual pages. I have it installed on my computer and use it quite often. When I finished the project I gave a copy to MAFCA to use as they see fit. So far none of the boards of directors have been able to come up with a way to release them. I have not been at the board meeting where the topic was discussed so I only have hear-say information. The main problem is money. There are two main money issues. First concerns the How To books. It has been suggested that if the 50 years were released people would not want to buy the How To books and that source of revenues would be lost. The second problem is concern about illegal copies of the 50 years. This impacts both revenues and control of the material. Some board members feel that once the back issues are out in a digital form they would be easily copied and then much of the potential revenue would be lost to pirated copies. Some also fear that the images may show up on the internet which would result in a loss of control of the material.

There are several ways to distribute the material:

Thumb drive.
Set of DVDs
On line (free, members only or by subscription)
Download from web site (free, members only or by subscription)

There is no solution that is 100% thief proof. It is just a matter of how difficult it is to steal the material. If a good solution to the illegal copies question can be solved the board of directors would be more likely to release the 50 years of The Restorer.

Finally I will repeat that I have not sat in on any of the Board meeting when this was talked about. So this was my best interpretation of what has happened. If I have misinterpreted the boards view it was not intentional, please correct me.

Bob Johnson
 
I, for one, would buy a disc/stick with all the issues of either The Restorer or Model A News from MAFCA or MARC if they would offer it. I just ordered the AACA stick because it take up much less space then the stack of magazines I currently have (and I don't have all of them). It makes sense and could give them another revenue stream.


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