R

rjtjrt

Well Known Member
I am pondering subscribing to either the Digital or Print version of Kitplanes mag.
There is no sample of the digital on the Kitplanes web site.
I would like to know what the digital looks like and any advantages or disadvantages of either.
I emailed both Belvoir Publishing and Kitplanes directly but received no reply or acknowledgement of the emails - somewhat off putting.
Can anyone who has subscribed to the digital edition let me know what it looks like (and any advantages/disadvantages compared to the Print ed)?
John
 
I thought that Kitplanes changed their policy a while back and now allows print subscribers access to the digital version. Not sure if that is accurate, but I seem to remember seeing that somewhere.
 
Kitplanes Digital Version

John

I just logged into the web version and looked up this month. Comparing it to the print version it looks really good. When you click on a link for a particular article it is the same article but you loose a few picutres. However when you click on a link called "view in PDF format" it is the exact article. Including the adds that are on the pages.

Bottom line is the electronic version is very good.
 
Just to clarify something here, guys.

Yes, the online edition is free to print subscribers. Took awhile to push that one through, but I prevailed. (Didn't seem right to ding our most loyal readers for the electronic edition when they were already supporting the magazine...)

Also, so you know, the version of the story you see in HTML on the site is intended to be a teaser of sorts, and is on the front side of the paywall. Presumably, web so crawlers can find it; we spend a stupid amount of time on search-engine optimization. This web-zine version isn't really intended to be the ideal presentation of any particular story, but it works to convey the information.

As mentioned, there's a way to download a version of the story in PDF, which is basically just a low-rez export of the same file we use to print. There's also a link at the bottom of the page table-of-contents that allows you to download the entire issue in one piece. That was something quite a few readers wanted, and it wasn't until our new web guru, Omar Filipovic (a builder himself), came on the scene that we had the horsepower to make it happen.
 
Marc,

Thanks for all you and your fellow staff do. Between Kitplanes, AOPA Pilot Magazine and EAA's Sport Aviation I get my (reading) aviation fix every month. Good stuff!

Regards,

Ken
 
Awesome, thanks Marc! I've been a print-subscriber for years and wasn't aware of the change. I find a pdf option invaluable as it allows me to electronically archive the articles for future reference (as a student I don't have space to keep all my old hard copies around but I do have a 2.5TB raid array). Off to go check it out now!
 
I guess I have become a big fan of electronic publishing (digital or whatever name you want to use). This is probably because I don't deal with paper very well any more. I end up with stacks of paper (magazines) that are too much to carry around, hard to search, and always seem to get lost or damaged. Too much for me to carry around to read in those few moments when I have time to read them.

However, on the other hand, I will download a full digital edition to my laptop, and have it available along with many other magazines, books, documents, to read and have available in a light, easy to carry, form.

Aside from the obvious advantage of saving some of the earths resources & reducing landfill requirements, the 'digital' form of a magazine:
1. Allows embedded hyperlinks to related content.
2. Much easier to search (if done right).
3. Takes up less shelf space.
4. Doesn't get lost, torn, damaged easily, can be replaced easily if it does.
5. and many more.

Now, how to convince AOPA & EAA to do the same!!!!
 
I gotta have a glossy paper magazine that I can hold and feel. You get the electronic version with the print version anyway.
 
I like to have the paper version, just because I like to repeatedly look at pictures for ideas, and also to go back and look at some articles....but I also like the digital version. It allows me to catch up on articles quickly if I'm at work, or otherwise don't have the hardcopy around. Of course I'm a bit biased towards that magazine in general. I think it's the only one out there that is edited by a homebuilder and the contributors are mostly homebuilders themselves. :)

My biased 2 cents as usual!

Cheers,
Stein
 
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