TOPIC: FUTURE PLC
The bold gamble behind Linux Voice magazine
1st March 2014During the latter part of last year, the magazine Linux Format suffered a staff clear-out, and I was left wondering why. It was as if a load of folk left at once and, even if I have seen that sort of thing happening at my current place of work, I was asking if something went wrong at Future Publishing. Instead, I had missed the fact that the former Linux Format staff were starting their own magazine. They crowdfunded it on Indiegogo. It took the appearance of Linux Voice on a shelf in the Macclesfield WHSmith's for me to become enlightened about this.
It seems risky for a whole team from one publisher's magazine to leave and create their own similar publication, especially given the current instability of magazine publishing in the digital age. The mention of a non-compete agreement reminded me of my own workplace. Their former employers' reaction would be interesting to know, as mine might consider legal action if I did something similar, assuming it were possible; I too would be bound by a six-month non-compete clause after leaving.
Regarding the magazine's content, it is appropriately good. While occasional misspellings might occur, articles on OwnCloud and Arch Linux installation, along with reviews of Mageia 4 and FreeBSD 10, would interest me. Many familiar names from Linux Format are also present, creating a sense of continuity. The new magazine's design is less extravagant than its established competitor, and their coexistence will be worth observing.
New ideas take time to develop, and I wish the new magazine success. Its goals are positive: half of its profits will support open-source software, and articles will be openly accessible via a Creative Commons licence. However, its immediate financial stability is crucial, making the next few months significant. The experienced team behind the magazine is a strong asset and could prevent it from becoming like Walking World Ireland and Cycling World, which appear irregularly in stores. The support of an enthusiastic community is also beneficial. I might eventually have to choose between Linux Voice and Linux Format, similar to my choice between Linux Magazine and Linux User & Developer. Despite being a niche operating system, Linux users have a good selection of magazines.
A belated goodbye to PC Plus magazine
13th October 2012Last year, Future Publishing made a loss, so something had to be done to address that. Computer magazines such as Linux Format no longer could enclose their cover-mounted discs in elaborate cardboard wallets and moved to simpler sleeves instead. Another casualty has been one of their longest standing titles: PC Plus.
It has been around since 1986 and possibly was one of the publisher's first titles. It was the late nineties when I first encountered and, for quite a few years afterwards, it was my primary computer magazine of choice every month. The mix of feature articles, reviews and tutorials covering a variety of aspects of personal computing was enough for me. After a while, though, it became a bit stale and I stopped buying it regularly. Then, the collection that I had built up was dispatched to the recycling bin and I turned to other magazines.
In the late nineties, Future had a good number of computing titles on magazine shelves in newsagents, and there did seem to be some overlap in content. For instance, we had PC Answers and PC Format alongside PC Plus at one point. Now, only PC Format is staying with us and its market seems to be high home computer users such as those interested in PC gaming. .Net, initially a web usage title and now one focussing on website design and development, started from the same era and Linux Format dates from around the turn of the century. Looking back, it looks like there was a lot of duplication going on in a heady time of expanding computer usage.
That expansion may have killed off PC Plus in the end. For me, it certainly meant that it no longer was a one-stop shop like Dennis's PC Pro. For instance, the programming and web design content that used to come in PC Plus found itself appearing in .Net and in Linux Format. The appearance of the latter certainly meant that was somewhere else for Linux content; for the record, my first dalliance with SuSE Linux was from a PC Plus cover-mounted disk. The specialisation and division certainly made PC Plus a less essential read than I once thought it.
The current economic downturn coincides with significant shifts in publishing. Digital publishing is expanding beyond just websites, which likely contributes to Future's recent financial results. The perceived lack of importance of a title like PC Plus can lead to its discontinuation, though I believe past overexpansion was the primary cause. Perhaps a single Future computing magazine with in-depth reviews, tutorials on programming and open-source software, and consolidated content from other magazines could have changed things. However, even that might not have been commercially viable. Consequently, the present situation is different, and PC Plus is no longer a magazine I read monthly. Its disappearance from newsstands, even though it fell off my reading list some time ago, is regrettable.