This subject came up in another topic regarding Loupe magazine.

Hard copy or digital?

Now I admit I am old school and much prefer to have a hard copy of a magazine in my hands. I find it far more enjoyable than perusing a digital copy online. It's the same with newspapers. I just prefer it. It seems more personal.

That said, I do now get my news form an amalgam of sources online as the cost of having a newspaper delivered these days just doesn't make sense. Online news is also far quicker than awaiting on a newspaper to be delivered. As far as magazines, I have yet to give up on hard copies. Online mags have far too many ads or the ever dreaded pop ups to deal with. That may not be the case with Loupe, but having a hard copy just seems more relaxing to go through. Would I still read Loupe if only in digital form? Of course I would, but I am a fan of CW.

Would a casual observer be more likely to read a hard copy or digital?

Is your choice a result of generational influence or bias?

Does a lifestyle magazine focused on CW watches have more impact in hard copy or digital form in todays society?

What do you think?

I am old school and prefer to have the paper copy in my hand rather than some digital device. I do appreciate the cost and the impact to the planet is greater this way but, as I said, that tangible item is so much nicer in my opinion

Does anyone other than fans of CW read the Loupe? An honest question. I don't know the answer.

For me it really doesn't matter. I'll read whichever I get to first.

If they were to go full digital I think a true digital presentation possibly with their own app (or a service that allows more dynamic content) would be the way to go. Reading PDFs just leave people cold and aren't the most user friendly at times.

For browsing news or ephemeral information, I find digital is fine, but for material of prolonged interest, especially horological, I prefer hard copy, but I am a bit old school.

Hard copy vs digital definitely falls into the subjective area of personal choice. I do look forward to each new print copy of the Loupe landing in my mailbox. Since I live in a rural region of the States, the delivery of my copy often lags by several days of the forum members living in the UK. For that reason, I have tried reading the digital version on occasion but did not enjoy the experience as much. My job involves a good deal of office time spent looking at a computer screen. So, I am not looking for ways to do more of the same at home, I enjoy the print version photographs more than the digital. A possible explanation is I can control the lighting better when viewing the print copy. I prefer natural light if available to a backlit computer or phone screen. It’s a more tactile, tangible experience for me.

Delmar

Digital-only for me, please.

1. physical copy is a waste of paper and the cost of mailing it to my country (monetary, environmental) is not worth it.
2. it comes so late that by the time I receive it, I've already read the digital copy in Issuu. That then leaves me with a paper product I'm just going to send straight to the recycle bin.

I would like the option of saying no the physical magazine.

For me, paper copy please.

I don't enjoy digital printed media at all and end up only skimming whereas with the paper Loupe I read every word. Every magazine.

Also I like to pass on my copy of Loupe. Gone are the days of a surreptitious drop in the doctor's waiting room so the likely recipient is the neighbouring family whose boys hoover up every car magazine which goes their way. I have a few other watchy friends locally who might find themselves receiving a surprise loupe.

When it comes to saving the environment I'm inclined to put the Loupe and my other printed magazines in perspective with all the other paperwork out there in the world and frankly until someone bans junk mail and unsolicited mailshotting & advertising my paper magazines are very very small beer indeed.

UPDATE:
I'm just dealing with my latest GMT digital magazine which is viewable online or downloadable. Portrait format content, landscape format laptop screen: need I say more? Actually there'll be a lot more if I can muster the patience to zoom in/out as required. Up front there's a Moser watch with a skeletal dial and an appearance not too dissimilar to the Bel Canto with the circular dial and handset occupying the top 25%-ish of the dial. I need to read on.

If it was digital then I probably wouldn't read much of it. About half of the magazine is "lifestyle stuff" after all . I'm a watch nerd, my life has no style. If it's a paper copy then I might at least browse it in more depth.

I would currently prefer a hard copy Loupe, as I spend far too much time looking at screens. It feels like I can focus on reading a hard copy magazine better without the temptation of other tabs / emails / apps to distract me.

I still buy hard copy magazines and have never converted to downloads (although I don’t buy much music at all these days).

In general I try and veer towards analogue or physical items wherever possible over digital (including automatic watches over smart watches). I am from the last generation that grew up without smartphones and 24/7 internet access so it’s probably a generational thing for me.

As for the wider customer base, I would imagine the reach would be wider digitally, and the cost much lower, so the impact of a magazine like Loupe would be greater digitally. I presume this is where things will go in the future.

I read mine, and indeed I look forward to it landing on the mat.
My copy of Loupe lies around in our sitting room for quite a time. I'm pleasantly pleased when friends pick it up and read it.

Surely, this is the real point of a house magazine, it's soft advertising in a quality format.

Not wishing to go off topic, but I wonder if an adjacent decision point is whether a curated magazine- online or physical- is still needed. Where some companies seem to do quite well with 'blog' style editorials, I wonder if the magazine collection of stories is still the easiest (and most cost effective) style to produce, publish and read. Indeed, the online presence breaks up each new Loupe into its consituent bitesize features anyway. A quarterly publication also breaks the release of new models or new information into quarter years which might not always make the most sense from a marketing or supply scheduling perspective.

I may be in the minority in not really having much interest in random sportspeople, trends or the arts but I do enjoy reading about the processes associated with watchmaking from design through fabrication together with the occasional unrelated story which grabs my attention. With an online magazine, as with the hardcopy I flick straight to the stories I want to read- and a list of blog entries released according to the business need and publicised by the usual social feeds, for me, would acheive exactly the same result.

I think most of it has already been said, and if I was a betting man I'd wager when you total up all the for's and against's, you'll end up bang on 50:50, but for what it's worth, here is my view:

I am very much in the hard copy camp. My hard copies have suddenly stopped and I've really missed the last two editions. I spend all day on screens and reading for pleasure is something I do in my breaks and away from work. The last thing I want to do is look at a screen. I keep my copies of Loupe as they often have the origin story of one of the watches I've bought and I'd much rather revisit them in hard copy and I can pass them on when I move on the watch. Much nicer than providing a website address or link.

I don't find the online version particularly easy to find and navigate and I absolutely do not read as much of the online version as I do the physical version. When it comes to normal people I think if they got a hard copy they may read it. I don't think they would seek out an online version.

For me the hard copy of Loupe epitomises our hobby. We don't need mechanical watches. There are much more efficient, accurate and cheaper ways to tell the time. But we don't want that. We want to do something the old way because it's tactile, it's beautiful, it's unusual, it's cool and for a myriad of reasons that are different for each of us, and that we cannot explain, we just prefer it that way. So it is with Loupe.

TLDR: Online version is a like a mobile phone, hard copy is like a mechanical watch. I like mechanical watches ergo I like the printed version.

^^^ I like the TLDR: printed for me too please.

Also, I'm always surprised that it arrives in such good condition for an unwrapped publication.

I love to receive the printed version.

If it would be online I would not give it as much of importance.

It’s a bit of special moment


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