Newsletters/Magazines - electronic or hard copy?

[Stonewall]

Seeing the FLWG WingSpan discussion it made me curious to know who prefers which style of subscription.

I get AF Times in the mail every Wednesday and read it front to back then donate it to my squadron's lobby where I see it being borrowed/read constantly.  With that subscription I get access to the AF Times online version too.

I realized that if it's an online version I won't read it.  I hate looking at a computer screen for reading and learning (CBTs, online college, PME, monthly safety training) and there is a 95% chance that even if I'm paying for it I will not read it if it's sent out via email or requires me to go to a website to read.

In short, I like a good old fashioned magazine or newspaper.

GatorCaper, NatCap News, CAP News, Volunteer, Soldier of Fortune...all much better to read riding the Metro, on a plane, or sitting on the "thrown".

Note: ignore grammar issues as I'm operating solely via iPhone until Monday.

[Walkman]

I have a hard time doing any real "reading" on my computer screen. It might be different if I had a tablet. I'm with you.

[Flying Pig]

I like hard copy magazines.

[Panache]

I find that reading something that's a hard copy is much easier than a electronic copy when I'm... how shall I put this... "ruling the kingdom from the porcelain throne".

[LSThiker]

I have a hard time doing any real "reading" on my computer screen. It might be different if I had a tablet. I'm with you.

It is.  For any real reading, I switch over to my iPad.  So much easier and lighter.

[Eclipse]

Neither - they are a waste of time, read by few, with month+-old information.
For every article that is of any value, and I'm speaking nationwide, there are 50
that someone just snagged from someone else's site or are irrelevant to CAP
and just cause the reader to roll his eyes.

It's cold - wear a jacket.

Distracted driving, it's not just for breakfast any more.

It's snowing - mash the accelerator to the floor from a red light and use
abrupt control input.

It's hot, avoid water as it will make you sweat more.

Long mission - make sure to push and drive through the night so you can
sleep at home.

Etc., etc.

Second choice after "neither" is electronic. 

[RRLE]

I belong to a few non-profit organizations. Most of them switched to electronic only newsletters to save money. And all of them saw their readership decline. The latter is evidenced by decreased attendance at meetings (I didn't know when it was, no one (ie no newsletter) told me about it), social gatherings, elections and for some - decline in membership.

Whatever might be being saved in current funds, may be lost in the long term as members fall out from what the member sees as late of communication.

Frankly, once any of the organizations I belong to switched to electronic form I stopped reading the newsletter. I get enough email as it is and barely have time to read it as it is.

I also don't have a tablet, I have a Nook and I have no interest in reading anything on it but the books I order and some news feeds.

[RiverAux]

Much as I like newsletters as a future source for historians to use in reconstructing the history of an organization, they seem to be on their way out, whether electronic or printed.  Five years ago I would have said that they were being in the process of being knocked out by wing web sites, but I don't think even those are being visited regularly be members anymore.  I think Facebook and other social media outlets are where a lot of members are getting their news about the organization now.

That being said, it seems as if about the same number of CAP units that were putting newsletters up on their web sites about 10 years ago are doing so now.  It wasn't a lot back then and its not a lot right now. 

Personally, I know that I am much more likely to read a printed version of a newsletter than an electronic one, especially if the electronic version is more than a couple of pages long. 

[Майор Хаткевич]

I instantly find it surprising that I can read paper books (but my kindle is king), but once its on a tablet/PC I don't readit. A story online? Sure. A whole magazine? No way .

[SARDOC]

I liked getting hard copies.  I was more likely to read it when it would show up.  I would frequently leave the Hard Copy in a Doctor's Office or Library or someplace else that it was likely to be read.

[SamFranklin]

I'm a serious reader and prefer hard copy with wide margins for notes if the article / story is a piece of formal writing. If I didn't mention it earlier, I'm a former teacher, so I have a long, proud habit of annotating texts.

I also like to browse magazine articles on my phone. Casual reading is good in a casual medium.

I guess I would say that CAP-wise, I'd like to see routine news stories electronic-only, but policy documents or other high-minded items work best for me in a printer-friendly format. Because I'm not able to get back active in CAP right now, I keep up with that great organization only via the web.

Long live dead trees.