A new Lexicon Mag? Ideas for paperless...

[Ninthwaver]

Hi,
Well, finally, after several delays (only a few of which were related to printing the durn thing up) the new issue of Lexicon is out (http://www.lexiconmagazine.com).

A Question-
What do people feel about Adobe files?
Why-
I am seriously looking into a paperless Lexicon. The idea would be a Cd with a bunch of audio files on it (like the CD you get now) plus an Adobe File with the magazine on it. (I am told I can convert pagemaker files to Adobe, anyone who knows about this let me know).You can download Adobe READERS for free.

Advantages-
Mainly that I would be able to keep Lexicon going. Also I believe this would allow me to create issues larger than the current 52 page (self imposed) limit I have.

Comments? Brickbats? Please let me know---
Dave

[Gandalfe]

Well, I will say that one of the nice things about having it a standard magazine is that you can read it on the bus, or in the bathroom, or whatever. My other issue with the Adobe format (besides that I hate it, but that's a personal thing - I have to use it for manuals at work, and I hate not being able to cut and paste stuff) would be, would this take away from the amount of music that would be on the CD? Possibly it could be a 2 CD thing, one with the magazine (and, yes, as you say, it would have little/no size limitations) and one with the music. Heck, you could probably get a lot of cool stuff on it besides the magazine per se.:woohoo:

[Synapse]

Hey Dave,

I think that you would have to have Adobe Acrobat Writer installed in order to export files from Page Maker, Word, or any other program. Acrobat is a great way to do it though. You can even use the Acrobat format to publish your mag to the web. Maybe you could do an online subscription.

As for audio on the CD, you wouldn't be able to fit much unless you were using MP3 format. If you did it that way, you'd probably be able to fit quite a bit of material on one CD.

As far as readership is concerned though, you may want to take a poll to get some feedback. Like Gandalf mentioned, you can take paper just about anywhere where a computer can be somewhat restrictive. However, the flipside to that coin is that more and more people are getting their information online. Most people do have computers, and having the mag on CD-Rom will allow viewers to listen to the music on the CD while they read.

If you want to post a poll, just say the word and we'll get one going.

[Gandalfe]

OK, I checked some of my work .pdf files, and I have a 176 page document that is 2.6 mB. Now, it's not very graphics heavy, but I don't think that matters very much with Adobe. So, that's only about 1 song's worth of space - not a big problem.

[Synapse]

Try inserting a bunch of graphics and images into that file and yes you will see it grow in size quite a bit. Text does not take up much space. Trust me, I've put together some graphic intensive .pdf (Acrobat) files and they can get pretty big. I have one that is almost 40 megs and it isn't really the size that a mag could be. But even still, considering a CD can fit 75 minutes worth of music, I think that the worst that could happen is you get 50 minutes of audio wich is about right anyway.

[Synthetic Vision]

Hello Dave
As an editor of a very small Synth Pop fanzine called 'Synthetic Vision' i thought i would add a reply to your original piece, for a start to be honest i'm not that familar with Adobe files so i can't really add a full comment on producing your magazine Lexicon in that format, but i fully understand how that format could improve Lexicon and keep it in existence including the music CD that comes with each issue.

I know the internet is slowly killing fanzines and magazines, there is no way what so ever that any fanzine and magazine can compete with any website, the list of fanzines and magazines that cease to exist continues to grow and will do so to the extent that i won't be suprised that none will exist in the near future.

With the existence of the internet it is near impossible to get people interested in a fanzine and/or magazine despite the clear advantage that these publications have and are not restricted in anyway in where and when they can be read, unlike a computer.

I still think that a pure Synth Pop fanzine and/or magazine should still exist, especially as a lot of the internet sites, which cover Synth Pop, are not wrote in English and a lot of the coverage that i've seen isn't great and often half-hearted.

I will always have a perference for paper publications but what ever decision you make good luck with it and don't forget to send me a copy of the latest issue :-), i'll send you a copy of the latest issue of 'Synthetic Vision' when its ready.
Synthetic Wishes
Danny
Editor-'Synthetic Vision'
Ireland's Synth Pop fanzine

synthetic pop - 'synthetic vision'

[skyborg12]

Dude, the coolest part about having a subscription to "Lexicon" is having it out on the coffee table, it would be a shame if it went away. Also the CD's are cool to loan out to people who thought synth pop died in the 80's and miss it a lot or just dorks who think MTv is "da bomb". Maybe monthly online subscriptions you can buy? I don't know, I would just hate to see the hard copy go away!

skyborg