The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Gary Taig editor@melbpc.org.au |
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Last month I promised readers a review of the TA612V VoIP adaptor; there are several articles on it in this issue and I hope you find it informative reading. I tested the unit over a 512/512 DSL Internet connection and it performed admirably. However, since many readers are likely to be operating with ADSL speeds of 265/64 or 5l2/128 kbit/s, I'm looking for a volunteer - someone who has one of those lower bandwidth ADSL Internet connections, lives within striking distance of Endeavour Hills and is willing to help run some additional tests.
We will install it and run the tests one Saturday afternoon; you can then keep the unit installed for a few days to get the feel of it. You can call some friends and family, and experience the unit over your particular bandwidth. The results will be reported in this column next month.
Reader Surveys
It's a while since our last survey and before the end of the year I will be gathering data and compiling fresh figures on the PC Update readership. This is purely advertising related and more precisely, I need to be able to say to a prospective advertiser, we have about X,000 members in the following age groups who spend $XX,000 each year on the following, Y,000 who spend $YY,000 and Z,000 who spend $ZZ,000, and so on. If you work or have ever worked in the field of marketing and sales, you will understand all this. If you haven't, then this is about building a current readership profile. Before advertisers will pay for the space to give readers a particular message, or make an offer they always need to know if they're spending their money wisely; they want to be convinced that PC Update will reach the right number of suitable prospects for them.
It's a tough game for advertisers - they are constantly bombarded with offers of greater sales success from advertising in this or that publication, and without a set of figures presented in a fashion similar those offered by the commercial publications, we would start off behind the proverbial Eight Ball.
A Good Year Ahead
Year 2006 will be a year of considerable growth for PC Update, I'm looking to increase the page count, the circulation and the quality of material. It all costs money and that means more advertisers must come on board. I need your help to do it.
Simply register with me by e-mail as described below. I will then pick members at random, perhaps twice a year, maybe a hundred at a time and ask you to complete an online survey. Your absolute privacy will be assured and there will be no names in the surveys. To register for this, please send me a one line message to gary@taig.net. Make the message subject SURVEY REGISTRATION and on the first line of the message space type just your name and post code-no message, only name and postcode. After that I will be in touch.
That Tiny Drive on the Cover
On the front cover is the hand of a baby holding what must be the world's smallest hard drive. It's made by Hitachi and stores an unbelievable 8 GB of data. It has a platter, a moving arm with read-write head, just like a regular drive and has an added feature, built-in protection against damage from shock. If you drop it on the table, as soon as it begins falling the head automatically locks. No doubt there is a type of inertia device inside.
When the General Manager of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for Asia Pacific, Jaya Dharan held it up in the air I though he was holding a postage stamp. This drive fits comfortably inside any current mobile phone or other small electronic devices that store lots of data these days. A sign of what is to come.
Articles For Beginners
From time to time I hear complaints from senior members who say that some of our beginner members want more articles for readers at an introductory level. Please let me know if you fall into that category and send me a message stating in the simplest possible terms, what you would like to read about.
This won't be too difficult - just tell me in plain language where and how you think PC Update could cater for you better than it does now. Please keep it short - you will achieve considerably more by being brief and to the point.
Be straight, be blunt (I won't cringe, I promise) but above all, think about it first. Think about the articles you've seen in PC Update and in other magazines that you couldn't follow. Think of why. Was it terminology, was it the writer, some people are clumsy, yes, but none of those ever get published here. Jokes aside - I want to ensure that PC Update continues to cater for all ages and all levels - your feedback will go a long way towards making that a reality.
Product Reviews
Ash Nallawalla has been saying for a long time that nobody wants to review products for PC Update any more. Is he right? Have you ever considered reviewing something but decided against it? Have you ever been asked to review something? Over forthcoming months I'll be looking for many more reviews and Ash can't do it all on his own. You get to keep the product but you must be able to write, and clearly for many of the products a better than average understanding of computing is also necessary. Call me, please.
Reprinted from the October 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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