So here are some questions.

What is the problem with getting a copy of our magazines from Robert White? It is closer to people in the UK and Europe than we are in NM and probably cheaper. We would charge $7US plus about $8US for first class postage. What does White charge?

When we added the bonus section on the web for subscribers we thought our efforts would be appreciated. We are doing this at our own expense and making the material available free to our subscribers. Instead we are told we don't care about customer service, we don't listen, etc., etc. Perhaps it is true that no good deed goes unpunished. We could drop this extra material and make people happy again I guess.

We are not computer programmers. With the drop in ad revenue after 9/11 we are not able to hire a programmer to do an integrated database that is tied in to our subscriber info so that when someone's sub expires they lose access to the free sub material automatically. If someone has a suggestion that either does not cost a lot of money or if they are willing to do the work free I will listen and may take them up on the idea. In the meantime if you feel the system is combersome don't use it. You have not lost anything. The magazine is the same size and has the same content as before we started the sub section on the web site so you have not lost anything.

In the AOL lf discussion group we became plagued by people coming on with such negativity it was unbelievable. I hope that does not happen here. Many of our harshest critics were not even subscribers, just people who wanted us to give away free info to them. When they were unable to get us to do so they became vitrioloc.

The reaction against digital is also curious. When color came along did we react against it the same way? When silver came along as an addition to platinum, etc. did we deny that it was photography?. CameraArts has increased its coverage of black and white but we are not going to ignore digital. It is here and will stay - in the real world and in our magazine. How many of the companies producing products for the black and white darkroom are supporting the magazines? To charge enough that we would not need advertising is unrealistic. How much are people willing to pay for a suscription?. Photovision tried to ignore digital completly then they started taking digital ads. When PV made an offer to send a sample copy to anyone requesting one very few people took them up and fewer even subscribed as a show of support and the magazine has apparently died.

CA will continue to cover all aspects of The Art and Craft of Photography in the 21st Century and VC will continue to add to the subscriber section on our web site. You don't need to save the plastic wrapper of either magaszine. Just write the info from the lable on the TOC page of each issue and it will be there for you. If we put the lable on the magazine others would complaign that we are defacing the magazine

steve simmons