MR giving total access to website this weekend

[Puddington]

I remember once saying how long will it be till MR shows us how to add DCC to a tree. Check out the latest Cody's Office to see how they do it 

........and exactly when did Bob Hundman go to work at MR ?

[wm3798]

Talk about cherubs... Cody makes Ed look like Jesse "the Body" Ventura.

[diezmon]

if anyone's interested, I grabbed all the pdf files off the site. Looks like it's mostly trackplans.  But, if you're interested let me know.   I'll probably just end up zipping the whole structure up, like last time.

[davidgray1974]

Thanks for the message Bryan. I appreciate your sharing this with the group as I had missed this announcement even though I am a subscriber.  As someone who helps to keep the lights on at Model Railroader, I have to agree with their policy of having subscriber only content. It really an enhancement to the magazine, and a legitimate approach in my opinion to adding or keeping subscribers in this day and age. Unlike the online news industry which uses a small number of writers whose work is reproduced widely, this industry has to generate unique material constantly. I don't mind contributing....it is less than a cup of coffee a week.

Best wishes, Dave

I second that.

[conrail98]

Because they do not want you (a rack buyer) to have access.  That's the long & short of it.

They want you to be a subscriber.

No it's not, it has to do with digital rights management. Nothing is to stop someone from buying the magazine on the rack and the distributing that password to their friends or posting it only somewhere or worse, peruse the magazine, copy it down/take picture, etc., and access the content without ever buying the magazine. There are ways to get around it (I've seen a QR code used in this sense with a wrapped magazine) that would tie the magazine purchased itself to one account, etc., to give access, but that's a significant effort that Kalmbach probably doesn't have the support/money to accomplish. The easier thing is to do is make it subscriber based,

Phil

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Funny thing is that no one can log in over the weekend, which means no forum posts (at least that's what I've seen for the last couple hours).
So giving free access effectively shuts out the members

I'm assuming the login funk is due to the maintenence & will be up & running sometime before Monday.
Otherwise it'll be a slow weekend at the forums.

[Van Horne]

MR has survived for over 75 years in a niche market with their evolving business model.  All of you with similar track records feel free to take pot shots at Kalmbach.

[DKS]

MR has survived for over 75 years in a niche market with their evolving business model.  All of you with similar track records feel free to take pot shots at Kalmbach.

+1

[MichaelWinicki]

No it's not, it has to do with digital rights management. Nothing is to stop someone from buying the magazine on the rack and the distributing that password to their friends or posting it only somewhere or worse, peruse the magazine, copy it down/take picture, etc., and access the content without ever buying the magazine. There are ways to get around it (I've seen a QR code used in this sense with a wrapped magazine) that would tie the magazine purchased itself to one account, etc., to give access, but that's a significant effort that Kalmbach probably doesn't have the support/money to accomplish. The easier thing is to do is make it subscriber based,

Phil

You make a good point Phil about the concerns of piracy.  No doubt those concerns exist.

This (only allowing subscribers to see/view online content) is a big-leverage point by Kalmbach to entice people to subscribe.  If I was a publisher, I would do the same.  The difference between how a magazine sees a subscriber and a rack-buyer is night & day. 

[Nato]

             Yes ,Thats Clambake for you. Yet I somehow remain a loyal subscriber to many of their Rags -er Mags. Astronomy,MR,Trains, Classic Trains,Classic Toy Trains, and even sucker for their extra content magazines?(books?) Great Model Railroads,etc.I have absolutely refuesed though to log in even as a subscriber and view the extra web content for the various publications. It is just the principle of the thing. These pages should be available to any and all readers. Nate Goodman (Nato).

[pnolan48]

MR has survived for over 75 years in a niche market with their evolving business model.  All of you with similar track records feel free to take pot shots at Kalmbach.

I think it's amazing. I hope they continue to have success.

I downloaded a few track plans, but more to study how they were drawn and illustrated than to see the designs. Studying how MR illustrates track plans has helped me draw my own in a more professional way.