MikeW
Established Member
Ok, you tempted me out of hiding...but I really am gonna hide this time :lol:
Oh now now...you didn't quote me fully to the point. The point I was trying to make and went on to say in the paragraph following the one you did quote was that over time it began to change.
I think they were giving the general readership what they wanted. (Even in some of the earliest issues I have (late 1970s, subscription began mid 1980s) there were occassionally people who wanted it less "dumbed down.")
Beginning in the 1970s when woodworking once again was picking up in popularity among non-professionals there was little else to subscribe to--and no internet.
Over time an ever larger subscriber base was comprised of people who wanted to learn the craft, ww schools were just picking up steam in the late 70s to early 80s and there we not many of them.
Manufacturers began targeting this growing base of hobbists and began making equipment aimed at this market, their advertising began to change to reflect this. Compare the 1970s advertising of say Powermatic to their ads in the mid-80s where they specifically designed an ad campaign saying they were "focusing their engineering expertise and resources for the craftsman, contractor and hobbyist" and "Responding to your expressed needs," emphasis is in their ad.
All of this shift in target audience took over a decade. But you can see it in FWW, from the articles, to advertisers, to the questions column--heck, even the tips column became fairly recycled.
But the real question for GWW is who is the target audience? If comprised of more than one demographic or skill level reader (most likely and probably should, let alone have to) what is or will be the company's goal in article content/skill level to meet this readership mix? Will its advertising department be able to sell this company philosophy to the advertisers? Will it be able to attract enough interest among authors who will support the company's vision and goals?
Whatever the answers to the above issues and those I don't even know to mention, GWW will change over time as it sees need to. This will please some and disapoint others.
Personally I wish GWW the best. In part because it seems, especially by their presence on this public forum, they care. Also in part because by becoming involved in this forum I have a vested interest in some authors who frequent here, and wish them continued success and personal fulfillment in their endeavors.
Alf":3glvduk4 said:
Oh now now...you didn't quote me fully to the point. The point I was trying to make and went on to say in the paragraph following the one you did quote was that over time it began to change.
I think they were giving the general readership what they wanted. (Even in some of the earliest issues I have (late 1970s, subscription began mid 1980s) there were occassionally people who wanted it less "dumbed down.")
Beginning in the 1970s when woodworking once again was picking up in popularity among non-professionals there was little else to subscribe to--and no internet.
Over time an ever larger subscriber base was comprised of people who wanted to learn the craft, ww schools were just picking up steam in the late 70s to early 80s and there we not many of them.
Manufacturers began targeting this growing base of hobbists and began making equipment aimed at this market, their advertising began to change to reflect this. Compare the 1970s advertising of say Powermatic to their ads in the mid-80s where they specifically designed an ad campaign saying they were "focusing their engineering expertise and resources for the craftsman, contractor and hobbyist" and "Responding to your expressed needs," emphasis is in their ad.
All of this shift in target audience took over a decade. But you can see it in FWW, from the articles, to advertisers, to the questions column--heck, even the tips column became fairly recycled.
But the real question for GWW is who is the target audience? If comprised of more than one demographic or skill level reader (most likely and probably should, let alone have to) what is or will be the company's goal in article content/skill level to meet this readership mix? Will its advertising department be able to sell this company philosophy to the advertisers? Will it be able to attract enough interest among authors who will support the company's vision and goals?
Whatever the answers to the above issues and those I don't even know to mention, GWW will change over time as it sees need to. This will please some and disapoint others.
Personally I wish GWW the best. In part because it seems, especially by their presence on this public forum, they care. Also in part because by becoming involved in this forum I have a vested interest in some authors who frequent here, and wish them continued success and personal fulfillment in their endeavors.
.
