JOAS Suggestions

[rdrutel]

In the recent JOAS magazine one of the only English sections declared a notable decrease in subscriptions that troubled the organizers. In order to keep operating they may need new strategies. An earlier poll on this forum showed much support towards bilingual articles, but there were other suggestions for improvement as well. I included some of those suggestions but maybe you have other ideas? Just wondering what everyone thinks could Increase membership...

[cjbnc]

Cost is my primary prohibition. There's at least 3, maybe 4 orgs I'd like to join for their publications and only so many dollars to go around.

[dinogami]

I don't know if this will get back to the JOAS or not, but they might also (in addition to the options listed here) consider offering an electronic-only version of the journal as a subscription option. Having to print and mail fewer things would certainly save them a lot of money; plus, such an option could be offered less expensively (to entice more subscribers) but still pull a profit. Of course, I recognize that the danger of this is that some subscribers might simply forward the resultant PDF (or whatever format) files to non-subscribers, thus decreasing the pool of people that would want to subscribe, but it might be worth seeing how many members and potential members would be interested in this option.

[rdrutel]

I am not sure if changing the poll would erase the results otherwise I would add this option. Maybe a mod could answer this question and then I will change it if possible.

[mummykicks]

I think a web based version of the magazines would be great. People are already scanning and posting the print versions anyway, so I don't think it will have much of an effect on that aspect of it. You might find that if it enables the price to be reduced there will be less, rather than more pirating.
Cost is a primary thing, it cost me US $141 to get the last subscription or >$20 a magazine which is expensive.
I'm not sure who pays for diagramming, but that must be expensive to do. A web based version could use photographs/videos for the models as well, which I would think would be significantly cheaper to produce in addition to being much better at conveying information. Fold Lang's tree frog using the diagrams, and then go do it using Tadashimori's youtube video...
I think video's and/or photographs for folding the really cool and complex models will make them accessible to a much wider audience that is either unwilling or unable to fold it based on the cp and a picture.
Also, web based means google translate is an option, even if it isn't perfect, it's usually good enough for what most non-Japanese speaking people would need (for folding anyway).
Lastly it means no printing costs that need to be passed on.

[rdrutel]

I think a large number of people still would like to have a physical copy in their hands, me being one of them, but with the option of having a digital text to be able to translate. The cost, factoring in shipping, is about 30-45 cents per page. I would not have such a problem with the cost if I could read more of the material.

[dinogami]

I think a large number of people still would like to have a physical copy in their hands, me being one of them

Oh, I agree! When folding, I too like having the hard copy there to refer to; it's much more flexible than an electronic version. But the benefit of an electronic version is that it can be printed out at will, so having an electronic version basically also provides you simultaneously with a printed version! (Of course, print quality depends on the printers you would have available...)

As an analogy, in the sciences, the distribution of article reprints, if not journal issues themselves, are rapidly becoming almost entirely electronic: it's much easier and faster to send someone a PDF of a paper than a hard copy, and more and more people are eschewing space-intensive hard-copy, paper libraries for basically identical things that can be stored on a tiny hard drive instead. Yet most of these people prefer to have a hard copy for reading and research purposes; they simply print them out when they need them.

[polistes]

i agree a web based one would probably make me sign up straight away because i can't read japenese but if i could tranlate it it would be great

[eric_son]

I used to subscribe to Tanteidan, but on my last subscription, I lost 2 issues. And the issues that I did receive -- they were either FOLDED lengthwise or rolled to a tight cylinder. The postal service in my country is very unreliable. If possible, I'd prefer to have an e-copy.

I bought an e-copy of Passion Origami. My e-copy has my name and full home address stamped on the cover page. I think this is a good deterrent to piracy. Maybe JOAS could do the same and offer an e-copy.

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

The postal service in any country is like that, Eric

[orislater]

thats why we use FedEx XD my dad works for fedex and i always say funny things to UPS guys

[rdrutel]

Just a quick update...after sending this thread to JOAS, I did not get a response, but the site lists a price increase up to ~138$ from 110$.