Dennis publishing copies itself?

[Yoy0YO]

Hi there, a few months ago, CPC (which I can't get hold of in NZ) published something about the Mac-Killer
Bit-tech too published a Mac-killer article in July
I borrowed a copy of "ATOMIC - maximum power computing" from a friend, the August edition (presumably published in July) has their own article which is almost a carbon copy of Bit-tech's online copy

I read the fine print and Atomic mag is in the Dennis Publishing umbrella

Just wondering, is atomic mag a rename of the CPC mag? or does Bit-tech/CPC have any affiliation to Atomic aside from Dennis publishing?

Thank you, I'm just a person who thinks BT/CPC > Atomic.

*sets down stool stirring stick*

[CardJoe]

I've never even heard of Atomic, but I'm willing to bet that it's a licensed or foreign version of the same content, maybe.

As for CPC and BT - we're the same team, essentially the same publication. It's rare, but some stuff does go up online once the magazine has been out for a while - usually for features. I can't speak for the hardware team but, except in certain circumstances, the games content is usually re-written for the magazine so that people who buy both get more than a repeat performance.

[Bindibadgi]

Atomic licenses some of CustomPC's articles through Dennis Publishing. It's legitimate (although my opinion on buying other people's content shall remain quiet).

[Yoy0YO]

. I just feel that Atomic is sub par cf BT/CPC. I'd much rather read BT to see an excessive grin on Harry's face next to boats. Cheers for your clarification

[jhanlon303]

What's a magazine?

[Yoy0YO]

Originally Posted by jhanlon303

What's a magazine?

Something one reads while defecating in a water closet.

On another note: theres a carbon copy of BT's Porting article. I guess imitation truly is the highest form of admiration.

[benji2412]

I had felt that since the merge, a lot of what was first on bit-tech ended up in the mag. But now it feels like everything has settled there and things are out in the mag first, then after a week or so, end up on bit-tech. For example the FM:2010 review, I think this is a good idea, gives me a reason to read the mag as well as the website (the site for the modding and community plus any issues..). But I really think that CPC needs to be able to offer something that BT doesn't. BT has its forums, the FS, modding community (I could go on for a while but you get the idea). I think now CPC needs something exclusive that would perhaps make people on the BT forums go and buy it if they don't already. Which I can imagine was the idea of Dennis Publishing buying BT.

So I suppose the main point of my post would be 'What would be that special extra in CPC?'. I did notice this month that the dream PCs were previewed in the BT homepage one by one and then the performance in the mags. Thought that was a good idea but in all honesty I'm never going to buy one .

Question: What would YOU like to see extra in CPC??

[cybergenics]

Originally Posted by CardJoe

I've never even heard of Atomic, but I'm willing to bet that it's a licensed or foreign version of the same content, maybe.

As for CPC and BT - we're the same team, essentially the same publication. It's rare, but some stuff does go up online once the magazine has been out for a while - usually for features. I can't speak for the hardware team but, except in certain circumstances, the games content is usually re-written for the magazine so that people who buy both get more than a repeat performance.

Its rare ? What ? The mag is chock full of stuff that has already been on this very site.

[cybergenics]

Originally Posted by benji2412

Question: What would YOU like to see extra in CPC??

Just nothing that has already been on here. Otherwise it kind of detracts from having to travel to buy the mag and then pay for it to read something you have already read. The Mobile Core i7 article was a very good example in this very issue, already been on this site.

[RichCreedy]

but not everyone who buys the mag comes onto the website, and vice versa

[crompers]

personally i just stopped buying the mag

[cybergenics]

Originally Posted by RichCreedy

but not everyone who buys the mag comes onto the website, and vice versa

The website is 'free'. The mag isn't. Furthermore, subscribers are generally treated better than those who have to expend fuel/energy to buy the mag, even though the latter group pay more. Obviously Dennis make less as some of the money is absorbed by say WHSmith or whoever. The main advantage of not subscribing is being able to have a look through the mag and see how much stuff you have already read on here. This subject has been brought up before and it never goes down well with the Dennis staff. There is somewhat of a small denial that the mag contains lots of content already seen on here, plus the filler that every magazine has to include anyway.

What isn't seen on here is generally good, credit where its due, but unless people continually ask why exactly the mag is containing less and less exclusive content then they will continue to make it more and more pointless to buy it. The last time I brought this up, it was regarding the Dream PC's article or something and was told, rather abruptly that the Dream PC article was just a 'preview' and the whole article was 'exclusive' to the mag. That would be like being able to play a game demo with 90% of the content only to pay 30 quid to get an extra machine gun and a character class.

The customer is always right, is not some jovial term used to patronise the buyer, but to show that if you want to make money, the customer is king. To be fair, online content with advertising revenue is probably far more lucrative than paper mags.

As Dennis bought up Bit Tech is obviously sees online content with adverts the future (which I can't argue, as it probably is) and possibly the future of all its paper mags are uncertain. If that is the case then you cannot blame them for wanting this place to go forward and the mag die. Which it will if they carry on putting all the content on here first.

Just as a small example, Harry Butler reviewed the Samsung F3 on here on the 6th of Nov, quite a good, and long, well balanced and informative review. The mag was released in the shops on the 19th (before if you subscribe) with an abridged version of the review (just like a book review) he even took some of the sentences from the Bit Tech article and just removed the 'Bit Tech' wording for the article in the mag. But it took me 5 minutes of my life I won't get back to read through the article in the mag to think, 'why charge people to read this when they can go on the site for free'. Slightly unbelievable business model.

[benji2412]

If anything the short version should be online with the full version in the magazine. However Dennis has to keep up against the online content of competition. The business model is a bit odd atm I must be honest, but as for this conversation not going down well with the Dennis staff I couldn't care less. At the end of the day we're the paying customers and we're the ones who are online so they can make revenue with the ads. If anything there should be a thread somewhere asking for opinions and recommendations (if there already is, I apologise). Just feel the need there to remind companies that the customer is ALWAYS right, even if they are misinformed. At the end of the day they're the ones parting with their hard earned.

What I am going to do though, is commend the staff at CPC/BT. I honestly think it is a much better mag than others available (no names mentioned....) and the website itself is fantastic. With regards to the online advertising I always ignore it, except on here with anything computer related (so I'm aware thats frequently).

[Sifter3000]

Guys, it's not a conversation that goes down badly with us - it's always interesting to hear reader's perspectives on it. These are strange days indeed, for the whole of the media and CPC/bit-tech are grappling with the problems affecting all printed and web publications. We're in a world where people look askance at paying 50p for a newspaper, but will pay £4 for an iPhone app or a ringtone, where £10 is considered too much for an album but £150 or so tickets for Glastonbury sell out in seconds. Right now, people read more than ever before - but they pay for less and less of the words they encounter. Online advertising makes significantly less than print ads do for most businesses yet the audiences are much bigger...

One issue we [the staff] have is that you can't always say in public everything that gets said at work re the business model; we've had a very active debate and discussion internally about how to proceed... we've got some things right and some things wrong, but crucially, I think we've managed to keep on producing a great magazine and a great website that readers enjoy, and that's what remains important to the editorial team. That and being able to pay the rent

[cybergenics]

Content is obviously a resource, most of the stuff that makes it into CPC can be found on Techpowerup or wherever, its just the fact very similar articles being on here for nowt, and then them appearing in the mag is a bit of a poke in the eye.

Having said that, the mag is still enjoyable, there are mags on the market like PC Format which not only have no interesting or valuable content, but have writers (think the column is called 'Ask Louis') that think its amusing to insult and mock people who send in technical questions.

[CardJoe]

It's also worth pointing out that content differs wherever possible. If something is adapted from site to mag then it's usually re-written and, while you can point to Harry's F3 review as an exception, I can point to almost any game review in the mag that I've done and how I've rewritten it to make the most of the format and include new jokes etc.

As Alex says, there's a difference between our personal opinions and the reality of business.