End of an era...or the start of a new age?

Dave. please move post as required.

relaying message.

An important announcement about the future of The Engineer Dear Mr Udall, Many of you may have heard rumblings over the past few days relating to the future of the print version of The Engineer. I’d like to use this opportunity to address these rumours. The pressures on print publishing are well known. Increasing distribution and production costs, and the impact of an ongoing economic crisis on advertising revenues, have conspired to create a challenging environment for magazine publishers. At the same time, the rise of the internet — with its global reach, low production costs and unfulfilled commercial potential — presents some truly exciting opportunities. Against this backdrop, the owner of The Engineer, Centaur Media, is proposing to close the print version of the publication and focus all of The Engineer’s editorial and commercial resources on growing the website and other digital products. It is proposed that the 16 July issue will be the last in print. It’s hard to know what our Victorian forbears would make of the proposal to close the magazine. Some would certainly be horrified. Others might well be astonished to know that a publication launched more than a century and half ago is still in existence. But none would have anticipated the rise of the internet — a technological development every bit as disruptive as the invention of the automobile or the aircraft. Since the relaunch of its website at the end of 2009, The Engineer has undergone perhaps the most striking evolution in its long history. We have been able to extend our reach far beyond that of the magazine, seed daily debate on the key issues, bring our subject matter to life with video and break and analyse news in a way that’s simply not possible within the constraints of a fortnightly magazine. Clearly this will be unwelcome news for many of our print readers. Indeed, given the hard work we’ve put into the magazine, we’d be disappointed if its proposed closure were met with indifference. But The Engineer will live on and, we believe, continue to grow. We have big plans for the website, including making more of our vast and fascinating historical archive, building on our news and in-depth coverage and expanding our video content. And for those who like their content with a cover and a contents page, we’re launching a monthly digital version of The Engineer that can be read on a host of mobile devices. Finally, I’d like to reassure all of our readers that the editorial team of The Engineer remains dedicated to maintaining the high journalistic standards and spirit of enquiry that have been at the heart of this important publication since its launch in 1856. Watch this space for more details on our future strategy. Make sure that you keep up-to-date with all the new developments across the Engineering and technology sector with the daily newsletter and of course you can also sign up for our other free email services like the tailored jobs alerts and sector related emails at **LINK** These news alerts along with www.theengineer.co.uk will keep you in touch with your community. And of course you’ll also hear about the launch of our digital version and other important developments at The Engineer. Kind regards, Jon Excell Editor – The Engineer

Edited By David Clark 1 on 18/07/2012 18:26:17

The worst thing will be the loss of employement for those that work in the printing industry etc and it is happening on a global level .

Eventually newsagents will cease to exist as slowly but surely everything is going digital even the newspapers .

At least the publication is to continue .

One thing i noticed was mention of video content and that leads me to a question, is there video footage of some of the model engineering exibitions in the UK that i can view online ?

Preferably something a little longer than a 2min youtube video and maybe with some inteviews of the entrants etc .

Ian

Hi There

I have Cherry Hill's last engine, the Blackburn Engine on DVD. Cherry has given me permission to post it but it is not in the required format. I have to convert it. I will try and do this over the next few days.

I might have to host it on my Amazon S3 account as it is a long video.

regards David

It would have been rather nice if The Engineer magazine had reprinted Issue No1 as an enclosure with the last copy! I agree at least The Engineer will continue in digital form, better than nothing I suppose.

The Engineer is not the only change,(I'm no a member, but I look in every now and then),big changes with HMEM, and quite a few throwing their toys out of their cots, a bit of a suprise to me. Ian S C

I didn't know The Engineer was still publishing! I have added it to my favourites list and have just spent a happy half-hour reading the website and forums. Lots of interesting stuff.

Well when the Beano reached its 1000 publication they gave a No1 edition copy with it have still got the original. plus the copy. and it is still being printed.
Am now in my 70s but still a boy at heart. Maybe I am an old luddite but still prefer the printed word. But as the song in the 60s said "times are a changeing" I know grandchildren have just bought me a Kindle. I know that ME would love to go digital BUT there would be such a loss of subscription it would close down.

Ian in my day it was prams.
Regards to all
Bob

Hi all.

That would be fantastic David i will look forward to it .

Bob I take it that you used a pram to deliver papers ?

Thats one thing i haven't seen in a long time - a paper boy /girl !

Nowdays they would get mugged for the money .

These days they use a van and a machine similar to a clay pidgeon thrower and travel at speed so no one can catch them !

But eventually they too will be nothing more than a fond memory as the march of progress grinds its way along .

Ian

Hi Ian
No mum pushed me around in it in the late 30s In the Gorbals in Glasgow at that time a boy pushing a pram....we eventually moved out of the city to a area in the country. Self and now 2 brothers turned the wheels into a cart. one of my first engineering projects.
Dad bought a Myford well the rest is history.
Bob

John, I understand that the owner was getting a bit snowed under with the work on the site. Recently had the oppertunity of taking over a site that was being dropped, but when I saw the work load I said no way, someone else picked up, and its still running. I be keeping an eye on HMEM, maybe at sometime I'll log in.

Have'nt found modelenginemaker yet, I'll keep looking. Ian S C

It's here:

**LINK**

Joe

Don't worry Joe I found it thank you, just got to find my way round the site, not quite got it sorted yet, it should be a useful additionto my sorces of information. Ian S C

removal of print copy of ENGINEER,

Please can anyone tell me if this may be the ultimate fate of Model Engineer and Model Boats magazines? Is it my imagination, or are a lot of readers comments, discussions and dissent already missing from Model Engineer? I have been wondering for many months if someone was already preparing to remove the hard copy of the magazine. Recently I have found myself thinking that there was nothing except good news in the magazine, does anyone agree with me? Anything other than articles seems to be on the website. Does it mean that a digital copy would be stuffed full of adverts getting in the way of the actual magazine content?

martin ranson

Hi Martin

We are here for many years to come.

regards david