…but I don’t think I am. Maghound has been compared to Netflix, a one stop monthly subscription service where you can pick and choose what magazines you get, and swap them monthly, just like you can movies at Netflix.
One big difference. Magazines are all about passion and loyalty. LOYALTY! Not switching. No one cares about sampling magazines via an online site. Do they?
I hope I am wrong, but I don’t think I am. The idea is deeply flawed. It’s from Time Inc., where, I’m told by folks who would know, morale is …. eh, not so good. Magazines, which were my first love and remain a staple of my diet, can’t be saved by a website.
Once again, I ask, what business is Time Inc. in? Print? Then they are doomed. Publications? Then welcome to the present – FM represents 175 great publications, and we’re growing, even in this crappy economy. As Time Inc famously said in the first cover of its print version of Business 2.0 (now defunct, so I can’t find the damn image): Come on in, the water’s fine!
I think you may be wrong here. I have just signed up and there are so many magazines I may want to see if I like and they are so expensive on the newsstand. I might as well take advantage of the free trial and try out a whole bunch of magazines while they are coming free. Best of all I signed up and I am getting some in October (free) and most of the rest in November (free as well) . All good news for me. Once I settle on what I want I may get fewer but for now. A trial is a trial..Go Maghound!
I don’t see it as game changing but it can work. Not all magazines reward consistent reading – this offers the opportunity to dip in and out of a variety of titles. I may only want to read a film mag for the Oscars special or a fashion mag for summer tips – this offers that flexibility
There are plenty of magazines that it would be very strange to be loyal towards! For example, the wife and I bought a number of wedding magazines before we got married. We bought house buying magazines before we purchased our home. DIY when fixing up the house. Laptop guides before buying a new PC.
Why Maghound is Brilliant and Why it Won’t Work
http://rebuildingmedia.corante.com/archives/2008/03/11/why_maghound_is_brilliant_and_why_it_wont_work.php