> . . . I for one would love to have a
> Journal that was more [of ] a tool than a showpiece. Find a much cheaper
> format and spend the saved money on greatly increasing the length.
> (Now, if I could borrow someone's flame suit-- please :)
> Cheers,
> Clair
> Clair's Piano Service
> http://www.vt2000.com/cps/
AMEN! No flame suit needed. I agree that the Journal is "lovely", but who
needs that? The Journal isn't found in the waiting rooms of the dentist's
office or the tire & brake shop, and doesn't need to be a showpiece for the
general public. This is not to say I want it to look like a rag; it just
seems to me that the Journal of 20 years ago had a much
higher percentage of technical information, and as a tuner just starting
out, I was hungry for any piano info. I could get and coudn't wait for the
next issue.
Now, there seems to be more and more articles about insurance,
retirement, business management, many more pages devoted to "pushing" the
national convention, then when it's over, pages and pages of photos
rehashing what took place, more ads, more industry news, and more of what I
would consider "fluff", and not enough hard technical information for those
of us "in the trenches".
You're right about recent diagrams and illustrations being much larger
than they need to be (almost a half a page to show what a wippen assist
spring is, and another 2/3 page to show it again and where to adjust it).
Actually, I've been keeping track of the last several Journals and
comparing them to older issues (early 80's), and came up with the following
observations:
The table of contents now takes up 2 pages instead of 1
The editor's and PTG president's messages take up 1 to 1 1/2 more pages
than they used to.
Promotion of the next year's National Convention starts as soon as this
year's has ended and can take up as much as 4 1/2 pages of the Journal.
Coverage of piano industry news takes up slightly more space.
Total number of pages consumed by ads has gone from about 6 to about 12,
and in the current issue, about 18, not counting the inside front and back
covers!
Classified ads now take up 5 pages compared to 1 page in 1980 / 81.
Articles about business practices, investing, computers, human interest
stories (tuners' lifestyles, experiences, humor), design theory, piano
history, career matters, insurance, and book reviews take up anywhere from a
page to several pages more than they used to.
All the above would be fine if the Journal were 15 or 20 pages longer
than it used to be, but it's not; it averages only about 6 pages longer than
in the early 80's. To be fair, space taken up by organizational news,
updates, sales of PTG literature and other items, and PTG Auxiliary news has
actually gone down slightly.
But the kicker is that the number of pages of "hard technical
information" on servicing pianos in the Piano Technicians Journal has
declined quite drastically from 49 % to only 32 %. But the total number of
pages is only slightly higher. Not only that, but they've taken to
re-printing articles from old Journals I already have!! This bothers me
greatly since they're all available on CD now, and a big reason reason I
stay in PTG and pay the dues (only $55 of which, admittedly, is for the
Journal) is for the ongoing information -- hopefully mostly technical -- in
the Journal every month. I depend on it to keep abreast of the new tools,
techniques, and more efficient regulating and rebuilding procedures being
developed in the piano servicing trade. I can find out about insurance, how
to deal with people on the phone, or how to build a business in other
publications elsewhere.
So, yes, let's have a less expensive format and a return to more
technical content and less fluff! I plan to send a similar letter to the
editor, if he doesn't see this. I don't think he does -- I thought he
mentioned a couple months ago that he doesn't follow this list nor the other
one (aren't there at least a couple other piano tech newsgroups?).
--David Nereson, RPT, Denver
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