Great Idea....The internet is free. Wonder how long it would take to get
quality input to a Owners Report Reflector? Or as a feature of an existing
reflector as a monthly / bimonthly feature....Hmmmm
-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph Koppi <jkoppi@pclink.com>
To: tentec@contesting.com <tentec@contesting.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Thursday, March 05, 1998 3:55 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] CQ Magazine review of Omni-VI+
>>>Charles D. Shinn writes:
>>>I agree. It would appear that virtually all equipment reviews are
>>>tainted by the inability of the reviewer to express themselves because
>>of real >or imaginary "Loss of Advertising Revenue". Business is poor
>>these days.
>>>Cutting out those advert bux to an unfriendly rag might be a good move
>>>for some that might be on the edge.....Chuck
>>
>>I couldn't agree more. Reviews by CQ are not worth the expenditure of
>>time. I've found QST to be much more thorough in evaluations of
>>equipment.
>>
>>Loren W7BWI
>
>I've always thought "Owners' Reports" would be useful to the amateur
>community. An Owners' Report (notice the plural possessive) is a review of
>a piece of equipment based on solicited comments from people who own the
>rigs. Basically, a publication sends a questionnaire to owners of the rig.
>The editor identifies owners by getting the registration list from the
>manufacturer, or by soliciting users in another way. (How the
>questionnaire is developed is another debatable matter.) The resulting,
>gathered information--together with a QST-style technical review--is an
>opportunity to provide really useful information to the amateur community.
>
>Ain't gonna happen, Folks! Too much money at stake.
>
>Having been trained as a reporter and having worked on daily newspapers,
>trade press publications, a consumer magazine, and in corporate marketing
>communications, I somehow found the audacity to suggest an Owners' Report
>section to none other than Wayne Green and 73 Magazine. (Good grief! I
>must have been on drugs.) This was sometime in the mid-80s when I had
>already notched 15 or 16 years as a writer, and I thought it would be a
>worthy pursuit to try freelancing a few articles to a magazine that serves
>the world's greatest hobby.
>
>That's when I found out how stupid I was.
>
>First of all, I should have never gone directly to Mt. Olympus. W2NSD
>could not muddy his fingrtips by personally replying to my query. Instead,
>in a most condescending fashion, I was taken to task by a young staffer
>whose last Pampers were still in his parent's trash can. He proceeded to
>lecture me on the relationship of advertising to publishing, taking
>particular time to point out that owners might say something the
>manufacturer didn't like, and the manufacturer might be unduly injured
>before a fix could be implemented. This, of course, would have possible
>adverse ramifications on future advertising revenues.
>
>Alas, my thinking was flawed. All along I had thought that manufacturers
>wanted to get user feedback as a means of improving their products. All
>along I had thought that a manufacturer that fixes a bug only serves to
>enhance its reputation, not diminish it. All along I had thought that a
>publication had some obligation to be responisble to its readers.
>
>Not so. Such was the way things were at 73; I suspect it is similar at CQ.
>
>But we're lucky. We can get owners' reports on demand. All we have to do
>is drop a note to the reflector (actually, any appropriate reflector
>depending on the subject), and say: "Hey, Guys, what do you think of the
>Omni VI's SSB filters?" And an Owners' Report will follow! That's what I
>will do when I am able to once again acquire an Omni VI.
>
>I've taken too much space. I'll be quiet for a long time, now. 73,
>
>Joe Koppi, W0SU
>W0SU@pclink.com
>St. Paul, MN
>
>
>
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