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Can't Tharg find a way to offer a combined print/digital subscription?

Started by wedgeski, 04 September, 2020, 10:45:32 AM

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wedgeski

Since coming back to the fold a few years back, I've Boing(tm)'d between print and digital and I still can't make up my mind which I prefer.

Nothing replaces the joy of unwrapping a weekly prog and feeling those pages between your fingers. It's like that moment in Ratatouille where the food critic is taken back to warm memories of his childhood by a bowl of stew; except for me, it's memories of sitting at my Gran's house, devouring the latest prog which she'd nipped over to the newsagent and bought for me that morning.

And yet, I can't keep these things any more. They pile and pile, and we've got little enough space for all our stuff as it is. Progs and megs are just one more thing to box up and shove in a corner of the attic--except since moving house we no longer *have* a usable attic, so even that's out of the question.

Switching to digital saved me there. The collection grows but I can shove it over into the cloud, where available space per pound of money actually scales way faster than the size of the things I'm putting in it, like an ever-expanding attic. Good stuff.

Yet...it's just not the same. I can read a prog quite happily on my tablet or laptop--in fact, it's a cute game of tapping, dragging, and pinching, following the narrative around the page. It has that going for it. But it's just not the same.

I'd like the best of both worlds, but paying for two subscriptions is madness.

Can Tharg find no way to include a digital copy as part of the print subscription, or offer a preferential rate on a digital subscription for print subscribers?

I'm not the first to ask this queston, but I'd be interested in the economics of why it can't be done.

Richard

It's a good idea, but I suspect the obstacle to implementing it is how does Tharg know that he's not actually  selling a subscription to two people instead of to one? What's to stop someone giving Tharg a friend's physical address so they get the print copy, and just getting the digital copy?

Magnetica

That's an issue with existing digital subscriptions now. The files are DRM free, so there is no technical mechanism that prevents them being shared. Obviously you shouldn't and indeed I wouldn't.

IndigoPrime

I imagine economics and demand come into play here. How much would it cost to set up and what would the return be, in terms of income, goodwill and loyalty? Personally, I like it when magazines do this, but those that do are quite rare. Also, I notably mostly don't ultimately go for the combined option when it's presented to me, because of the price hike.

So the question ultimately becomes: how much would you be willing to pay for a joint sub? 25% of the digital sub price? 50%? Less? More?

wedgeski

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 04 September, 2020, 01:32:08 PM
So the question ultimately becomes: how much would you be willing to pay for a joint sub? 25% of the digital sub price? 50%? Less? More?
Off-hand, I'd be looking for 50%, which would make it £15 (which is ironically the current total cost given the topical discount on the digital sub, but I don't know how long that will last)

I've got to hand it to Rebellion, £11 is still amazing value for a month of Progs. I feel like a bit of an ingrate quibbling over a few quid a month, but I do think there needs to be *some* discount for what is effectively a double subscription.

IndigoPrime

Those offers seem to be a one-month thing. So it's four quid for the first month of 2000 AD, and then eight quid thereafter.