XBIZ Magazine -- Return To The 1990s!
So I picked up a copy of the XBiz paper magazine at Phoenix thirteen months ago. It was pretty cool and had some decent reporting, so I "subscribed" (online) to the publication, which is of course free, as trade publications tend to be. ("Subscribers" being of great value to trade rag publishers, because the number of subscribers determines advertising prices, which is where the money is.)
Imagine my stunned suprise to get a bizarre email today, informing me that my "subscription" was expiring. That was odd all by itself -- trade mags usually keep mailing copies forever. But this email was *particularly* odd, because it informed me that in order to keep the magazine coming, I would have to download a .pdf file with a subscription form, print it out on actual dead-tree paper, fill it out, and *fax* it back to the numbers provided.
Fax? You mean, like that modem-in-a-plastic-box-that-makes-all-the-funny-noises? Geez, what is this, 1992?
Like many folks these days, I run a lean-and-mean, fully-portable, all-electronic business. My laptop is my office, and I travel a *lot*. I own printers at various addresses, but they aren't usually plugged in. My last fax machine is in a box 800 miles away, and hasn't been plugged in in years. I can dig out this last-century tech when I really need it, but for something as stupid as renewing a free trade magazine subscription that shouldn't even need renewing? I don't think so.
This email was so retro and odd, I seriously considered that it might be a strange species of phish. But the URLs all check out, and they don't ask for any sensitive info on the .pdf, just the same name-and-address info that they already have in order to mail me the magazine. A 2-second web form with one "please renew" checkbox would accomplish everything this strange 1990s ritual seems aimed at.
Strange, bizarre, clueless, blast-from-the-past business practices, and not at all what I expected from the xBiz crew. I guess I'll just read them online from now on. But seriously, WTF?
I did send a shorter version of this rant to the included questions/comments email address. But so far, no response.
Imagine my stunned suprise to get a bizarre email today, informing me that my "subscription" was expiring. That was odd all by itself -- trade mags usually keep mailing copies forever. But this email was *particularly* odd, because it informed me that in order to keep the magazine coming, I would have to download a .pdf file with a subscription form, print it out on actual dead-tree paper, fill it out, and *fax* it back to the numbers provided.
Fax? You mean, like that modem-in-a-plastic-box-that-makes-all-the-funny-noises? Geez, what is this, 1992?
Like many folks these days, I run a lean-and-mean, fully-portable, all-electronic business. My laptop is my office, and I travel a *lot*. I own printers at various addresses, but they aren't usually plugged in. My last fax machine is in a box 800 miles away, and hasn't been plugged in in years. I can dig out this last-century tech when I really need it, but for something as stupid as renewing a free trade magazine subscription that shouldn't even need renewing? I don't think so.
This email was so retro and odd, I seriously considered that it might be a strange species of phish. But the URLs all check out, and they don't ask for any sensitive info on the .pdf, just the same name-and-address info that they already have in order to mail me the magazine. A 2-second web form with one "please renew" checkbox would accomplish everything this strange 1990s ritual seems aimed at.
Strange, bizarre, clueless, blast-from-the-past business practices, and not at all what I expected from the xBiz crew. I guess I'll just read them online from now on. But seriously, WTF?
I did send a shorter version of this rant to the included questions/comments email address. But so far, no response.
GFY Hall of Famer 
(((
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