[Zope] Zope magazine

[Paul Winkler]

On Thu, Apr 18, 2002 at 05:05:02PM +0200, Mark Pratt wrote:
> whoaa. 
> 
> i don't think comparing the market size and subscriber
> base of ZopeMag with Newsweek is fair or realistic.
> 
> why don't you compare ZopeMag's prices to a specialized
> journal, newsletter or publication. thoses prices often
> range from $1000 to $18000 a year.
> 
> why? because in my comparison your faced with the same
> situation -- low volume publishing.

That analogy doesn't really work so well. We don't have the same
kind of drastic economy of scale online. I don't know about what
it costs to support 1,000,000 readers online, but it costs
almost nothing to support 100 readers online.
In the print world, the cost of printing 100 copies would be
completely absurd.

So the real issue is content.  If Zopemag wants their content 
providers (i.e. writers) to make some money, that's great. 
They are free to use whatever business model they like.
>From my perspective as a (currently unpaid) zope developer,
the one they have chosen looks absurd.
I can't pay that much for a sub to something
that I can't even get a sneak peek at. Especially online,
where you don't know if the business is going to exist in a week,
let alone a year.

Take the porn site business model. :) 
Let's say you could pay $3 for access to one issue for a couple days.
Then if you like it, there could be quarterly and annual subscription rates.
I would definitely pay a few bucks for a trial.

--PW