GOB Gone?

Leeward Rail

Leeward Rail

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Mar 20, 2015
3,164
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Sorry. Late to the news. I had wondered why my local bookstore couldn't fulfill my standing order for Good Old Boat, anymore.

dLj said:
While I agree in theory with the above, the difficulty is there is too much information, and a whole lot of bad information. So until one arrives to a level of competence it's very difficult to filter out the wheat from the chafe...

Good Old Boat did that filtering
Click to expand
That's the thing..

I keep hearing this talk about publishing as if it is irrevocably tied to using dead trees. Why ? A decent daylight readable waterproof ereader beats a book IMO

So why can't GOB and other publishers dump the huge printing, warehouse and shipping costs and just put their quality content out digitally? It's still "publishing"
That way, those of us looking to get quality content will still get it.
 
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thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,578
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Leeward Rail said:
... So why can't GOB and other publishers dump the huge printing, warehouse and shipping costs and just put their quality content out digitally? It's still "publishing"
That way, those of us looking to get quality content will still get it.
Click to expand
People want free content. The filtering is expensive even if the paper is free. Publishing, with a few noted exceptions, follows the money.
 
D

dlochner

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Jan 11, 2014
12,108
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
thinwater said:
People want free content. The filtering is expensive even if the paper is free. Publishing, with a few noted exceptions, follows the money.
Click to expand
To which I might add, quality content is not cheap. Good content and affordability are often at odds with each other.
 
D

dlochner

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Jan 11, 2014
12,108
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
thinwater said:
I should add, after publishing ~ 80 articles with GOB, they had a tough, good editing team. They improved everything I wrote.
Click to expand
I found Michael's advice and guidance very helpful in the few articles I wrote for them.
 
F

Foswick

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Apr 25, 2024
111
Fuji 32 Bellingham
Others have hit on the underlying truth - that folks expect everything online to be free. It is hard to get people to pay for information, regardless of the quality.

Years (decades) ago, my mom owned a gift store. She made the observation to me, one day, that there was no point in stocking items that someone thought they could make themselves. She pointed out that, even if they never did, if they thought they could, it was hard to get them to pay for it.

It's the same with information online. Anyone "can" find good information by sifting through tons of bad information to find the good stuff. The problem, though, is twofold. First, you have to know what you are looking for. GOB (and similar publishers) did a service by bringing things to readers' attention that they might not have thought to actively search for. Some of that information was important and some just interesting. Second, it takes time and a degree of experience to be able to find and filter the information. If you are looking for information on a topic, it means there are gaps in your knowledge on that topic. So, you might not be the best person to discern good information from bad.

And ... there is the rub. Something like 90% of people think they are "better than average" at discerning good information from bad. (I don't recall any of several places I have run across such studies, but this describes the phenomenon: Why Do We All Think We're Above Average? - Priceonomics) In reality, only about 49% are truly better than average. And, there is a bell curve that means that most people fall very close to average. So, there is a very small chance that you (or anyone) is generally much better than most people, regardless of how you personally feel.

Reputable publications solve the problem of that overconfidence gap. They publish content that, over time, satisfies the scrutiny of readers. They adjust their practices to do so pretty consistently. So, the reader no longer needs to scrutinize every little bit of information and its source. They only need to trust the publication, and they understand that any content in that publication comes with some assurances of its quality - proportionate to the amount of trust they have lent to the publication itself.
 
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thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,578
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Another problem derives from the "follow the money" problem. "Good Old Boat," by its very title, is focused on used boats, people who like to sail for less, and the reality of fixing stuff. I sold many DIY project articles. Not your best strongest business model. The rest of the mags sell the dream, the new boats, and all the new stuff. I don't know about you, but I don't care that much about the glitz and the money. I like sailing and tinkering.

Practical Sailor used to make a living by pointing out good stuff, and yes, pointing out bad stuff. Some DIY stuff. No advertising revenue. It very nearly killed them. For one thing, the cost of testing is high and is partially supported by product donations. However, once the manufactures learn that you tell the truth and don't write infomercials, many send their samples to someone that will write infomercials about how great it is. Those that have consistently supported Practical Sailor either make good stuff and know it, or they are brave and try to improve.

Practical Sailor transitioned to all on-line to reduce costs. Also because they felt that readers wanted more continent delivered faster. The balance has changed a little. More boat reviews, but still a lot of used boats. More video. More stuff from the archives (PS testing archives are deep). I would say they are very much in a transitional phase, trying to find their new feet, and I see some very promising signs. Many new writers and an editor that is really interested in comments. I don't write for PS as much as I used to, probably the result of having said most of what I had to say. If you have an idea for a DIY article, a how-to article, or something your would like to test (think science project), get in contact. It's not Good Old Boat, but maybe it can fill some of that hole, if we pitch in. It will be what we make it.
 
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B

Blitz

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Jul 10, 2007
689
Seidelmann 34 Atlantic Highlands, NJ
for those of you that downloaded GOB issues

How many issues were there in 2024?
I got issue 155 - MAR-APR2024 was there a 154?

What about 2023? I got 148 (JAN-FEB) and 149 (MAR-APR).

I think i missed my opportunity to download my missing issues...
 
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