[burtcom]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

But does anyone read monthly publications for news? I sure don't - the magazines I read are read for in-depth coverage, the kind of detail you can't always get online.

Hmm, why not evolve sites such as Pocket PC Thoughts to fill the space left by the departing print magazines?

How about more in-depth how-to articles, hard-hitting reviews and comprehensive news stories, written by real journalists and edited by professional editors?

While we're at it, layouts with multiple photos, sidebars, etc would be a nice change from the current plop-it-in-a-template mentality of many sites.

/Not that I'm picking on the Thoughts Media sites -- I love PPC Thoughts and I visit daily I just think online sites should consider moving past the 10-second cookie-cutter blurb stage and into real journalism -- these are the sites that will have ultimately more impact in the industry.

[burtcom]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

But does anyone read monthly publications for news? I sure don't - the magazines I read are read for in-depth coverage, the kind of detail you can't always get online.

Hmm, why not evolve sites such as Pocket PC Thoughts to fill the space left by the departing print magazines?

How about more in-depth how-to articles, hard-hitting reviews and comprehensive news stories, written by real journalists and edited by professional editors?

While we're at it, layouts with multiple photos, sidebars, etc would be a nice change from the current plop-it-in-a-template mentality of many sites.

/Not that I'm picking on the Thoughts Media sites -- I love PPC Thoughts and I visit daily I just think online sites should consider moving past the 10-second cookie-cutter blurb stage and into real journalism -- these are the sites that will have ultimately more impact in the industry.

[caywen]

This magazine has always been kind to me in nominating my software for awards and giving me some press. I'll be really sorry to see it go. They always went out of their way to be very fair in their reviews.

[Menneisyys]

Originally Posted by Mikey

I traded several emails with Hal on how his magazine took a turn for the worse about 2-3 years ago. They dumbed down every magazine with pages & pages of the same entry level content. I did not renew my subscription after that correspondence with the editor. I must say I'm not surprised as I told Hal, his magazine went from writing to those that have been with Pocket PC's since the magazine was H/PC Magazine to attempting to write every article to a newbie. Sad, as it could've still been around had he stayed true to his original core reader. 1 issue per year dealing with catching a new person up on the lingo would have been fine, but every article??? Come on! I wish them the best as well as I was a BIG FAN until the recent years.

There is a rationale behind this. Some kinds of articles just can't be published in a paper-based article - the format is just too restrictive. No clickable links, for example (while, for example, my articles are full of linked, additional screenshots). The physical layout is also restrictive. Thinking about, for example, trying to put my 100 kbyte-long HTML charts into the paper version? No way.

[dequardo]

Why MS doesn't throw a $$$ bone to these guys is a mystery. The amount it would cost them would be a rounding error to just one of their division's bottom line.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by dequardo

Why MS doesn't throw a $$$ bone to these guys is a mystery. The amount it would cost them would be a rounding error to just one of their division's bottom line.

If anyone cared, you're right, they'd do exactly that. But for some reason, the people that hold the budgets are quite often the ones far away from the product, the ecosystem, and the people in it. This is a sad testament to this reality.

[Gerard]

While logically it seems not to make sense that M$ allow Pocket PC Magazine to falter... even to drift into an iPhone-heavy publication, it does make sense from one small perspective. M$ has been trying for a few years to disassociate itself from the 'Pocket PC' name. It's 'Windows Mobile' (Professional, Standard, and Whatever) now, not PPC. Perhaps (but of course who knows) if Hal had approached the vaunted halls at Redmond on bended knee and begged to use 'Windows Mobile Magazine' the story would have played out a bit differently.

[Hal Goldstein]

Thanks to all the kind words from many of you. I'll respond to a few general points.

The advantages of the Internet as an information source are timeliness and interactivity. However, there are advantages to print. To quote me in my iPhone Life publisher's message: "Magazines contain engaging, graphically compelling, well-written and well-researched content. Limits in space mean only the best content gets published. And, of course, magazines are physical. Many of us enjoy picking up, highlighting, and dog-earing a paper magazine. We put them down and pick them up again and again. We read them in bed, in comfortable chairs, on planes and trains, in bath tubs, and in waiting rooms. Many of us simply prefer paging through a print magazine over onscreen reading."

I don't agree with the poster who said we dumbed down the magazine. We have had the same editorial philosophy since I started 24 years ago. We are writing for intelligent educated users, who may or may not have a strong computer background. We packed a ton of material in each issue from hardware, software, accessory reviews, comments from our judges, tips, profiles, Enterprise solutions, and device comparison. Some content served newbies, some experienced users. IMHO even the most sophisticated Thoughts reader might have a hard time scoring more than 70-80% on a test from the content in an issue.

I especially appreciate the comments here from product vendors. One of the things I am most proud of is the support we have given Windows Mobile software and accessory developers.

As to support from phone companies -- we weren't on their radar. They are used to large ad campaigns to reach lots of folks. I don't think anyone in power understood our value.

I am most disappointed in Microsoft. My relationship with Microsoft is complicated, and cannot be easily summarized. The folks in the field, the ones selling devices and training partners, loved us. They always ordered extra issues to hand out. I have gotten a lot of E-mail from them. However, the best word to characterize the folks in Redmond towards us is "indifferent" (and even that isn't 100% true.) Bottom line is no one in power in Redmond was willing to carry an onoing conversation with me, to see the many win-win opportunities -- at the least to get the hands of our magazine into Windows Mobile users' hands in a systematic ongoing manner. I have been warning Redmond for two years, and more aggressively in this past year that we needed some kind of meaningful cooperation if we were to continue.

At the end of the day, of course, it is not Microsoft's fault that we cannot produce the magazine profitably. Business is business and the market is the market. However, IMHO by ignoring us, Microsoft threw away a great resource that supported end-users, potential users, software developers, partners, etc. It really would not have taken that much, for Microsoft to work with us and for us to be able to continue. We are a small company, in a small rural town with low overhead.

I am not burning bridges or closing doors, but frankly I am exhausted from trying to explain what seems obvious to me of our value to Microsoft. In the meantime I have been forced to downsize, letting people go who have worked for me for more than 10 years, and giving temporary layoffs to others in order that we regroup.

BTW -- "Windows Mobile" and "Pocket PC" had nothing to do with it. Microsoft would not let us use "Windows Mobile" and my plan was to make the title "Smartphone & PDA" or simply "Smartphone Magazine" next year.

If you haven't done so, you might want to read my blog on the situation: http://www.pocketpcmag.com/cms/finalissue. In that post I talk about alternatives for existing subscribers who don't want to receive iPhone Life.

I see a real passion from iPhone users, and am quite optimistic that we will be able to make the transition. Also, the best way to support us is to subscribe to iPhone Life: www.SmartphoneMag.com/2010. I am proud of the launch issue.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Hal Goldstein

BTW -- "Windows Mobile" and "Pocket PC" had nothing to do with it. Microsoft would not let us use "Windows Mobile" and my plan was to make the title "Smartphone & PDA" or simply "Smartphone Magazine" next year.

They wouldn't let you license the name? That's horrible of them.

[Gerard]

Yeah, pretty weird of ol' M$. Early on I just sort of assumed that there was a direct affiliation between them and your magazine, what with the name... and I'd be willing to bet I was far from alone in that assumption. I mean, it'd be kind of like a magazine called 'Harley Rider' not being commercially affiliated with the Harley Davidson company. Or at least heavily supported with advertising by same. Oh well, so much for M$ getting a brain when it comes to advertising.

And sorry, Hal, for my comment earlier on the magazine 'dumbing down' (though I don't recall using that phrase exactly... did I?). I meant no offense. Perhaps it was more that as my own experience grew, the magazine just didn't seem to offer much news from that changing perspective.

[Hal Goldstein]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

They wouldn't let you license the name? That's horrible of them.

To be clear, I approached the subject 3 or 4 times over the past three years with Microsoft. I was basically told that Microsoft lawyers were extremely reticent to let anyone use "Windows" and "Windows Mobile" and that I would probably have to pay a very stiff licensing fee if I wanted to use it. I did not think the effort was worthwhile, but if I persisted, Microsoft may or may not have relented.

If Microsoft had given me a simple OK, I probably would have switched the name. However, I don't think "Windows Mobile" has the appeal or even the name recognition as "Pocket PC" or "Smartphone". "Windows Mobile" is in a sense an abstraction. "Pocket PC" and "Smartphone" are names of devices and concrete and more appealing on newsstand.