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From: rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe @ N41:48:31, W88:07:13)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: No January BYTE here either..
Message-ID: <329@ihlts.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Jan-84 15:24:07 EST
Article-I.D.: ihlts.329
Posted: Thu Jan 26 15:24:07 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jan-84 01:31:00 EST
References: <15474@sri-arpa.UUCP>, <1146@pur-phy.UUCP> <428@sdcsvax.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 19

I think those who feel that publishers of magazines (Byte included) care
less about subscribers than newsstands just because the latter get copies
first have misunderstood just how magazines are distributed.  Subscribers
pay a smaller amount and get copies delivered through the phenomenally
slow (but cheap) U.S. Postal Service.  Magazine distributors (and
newsstand operators) pay much more to have them delivered by the faster
(but more expensive) United Parcel Service.  They also sell many, many
copies which means more money for the publishers.  It's not a question of
"paying less attention to those who deserve it" because they subscribe,
it's entirely a matter of economics.  If you wish to purchase a large
number of Byte magazines each month and pay the UPS charges, you will
get them when the newsstands do.  Of course, you have to go through a
distributor, and magazine distributing is, shall we say, very ORGANIZED.
Each distributor pays an agency (sort of a FAMILY business) to "protect"
the distributor's virtual monopoly in a region.  So you have no choice
but to obtain magazines through THIS distributor and to accept the
magazines he chooses.  It's not a fun business relationship.  Consider
yourselves fortunate that you can subscribe to magazines at all and
avoid these "businesspeople".