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| Donna at age 9 with her first printing press and a few years later in the nerve center of her VW digital publishing empire. |
Welcome to the Digital 'Dog blog, the place where you can keep up-to-date on all things digital from Video Watchdog!
As the publisher, designer, digital mastermind, and chief-cook-and-bottle-washer here at VW (literally!), this is something entirely new to me: blogging. I'm no Tim Lucas. I've kept a diary since I was 12 though, so hopefully that counts for something. What I hope to bring to this blog is an inside look into the new Digital Editions we're bringing out, and answer any techno-geek questions along the way.
I want to hear from you. Something you like? Don't like? Having a problem with an edition on your device? Are you confused about how it all works? I hope this blog will clear things up a bit.
Tim and I are excited to be bringing the VW issues to you in this new format. It's allowing us to inject a vital interactive component into our magazine that we hope will interest new readers and enhance the print experience for our loyal print subscribers.
The Digital Archive of 174 back issues and 2 Special Editions (176 issues total) is becoming a reality because of backers, funders, pre-orders and donations made to the project that we introduced on Kickstarter and then Indiegogo last year. We are so grateful to everyone for making contributions and spreading the word. Truly, this was a life-changing experience for us. You have given us the tools to realize our dream: to preserve Video Watchdog digitally for generations to come!
So where does that dream stand now?
OMG. Equipment. We have been brought into the 21st century with new equipment that has been arriving all month. Our computers are so old the OS is expiring (Windows XP), the letters on the keyboards are disappearing, and the hard drives are failing. We have been spending more time trying to save the data on the equipment, trying to replace worn out parts, and trying to clear away viruses – when all we want to do is get on with it! And so we shall. New scanners have arrived too, and I'm preparing the digital checklist procedure this week. The setup begins!
The cross-platform app for Google Play will be available any day now. It's in the hands of the developer with my suggested corrections to text, and I hope to hear back early this week about going live. For those of you on Android & Windows phones and tablets, keep checking Google Play this week for the free Video Watchdog App and download it to your device. The current issue should appear there, ready to download for free! I'll make an announcement here when it goes live.
The Digital Archive is still slated to come out in December 2014, possibly sooner! If you did not get a chance to pre-order it while we had the lowest prices available during our Indiegogo campaign, you can still reserve yours here:
The prices will go up a little each month until it's published at the full retail price of $549. Get it now while it's still on sale! You'll be able to use it on PCs, iPads, Android devices and Kindles once it's published. Prices go up after April 1, 2014.
Meanwhile issue 176's digital version is being constructed now. It should be out in a couple of weeks and available on all devices.
Stay connected
If you'd like to keep up-to-date with this blog, click on the link to the right to be notified by email when a new post appears. Your suggestions are welcome and we appreciate your feedback.Thanks so much for stopping by. Feel free to share this blog with your friends, and check out the links on the right.
Ok. How'd I do for my first blog post? I know. I'm no Tim Lucas. But I once got an award for that.
Great first post Donna, very informative. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhew! Thanks Paul!
ReplyDeleteYes, i'd say keeping a diary since you were 12 totally counts! Congratulations! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Yvette! I was hoping it would. :-)
DeleteOH MY GOD THAT PICTURE IS SO ADORABLE!
ReplyDeleteWhich one, Joe? ;-)
Delete<3 <3 <3
Great first post, Donna! The first digital VW was amazing. I've been checking out a lot of digital conversions of print magazines on my iPad, and I'd say VW was the first to fully realize the opportunities of the format. I don't know where you get ideas and wonderful sense of design, but I'm grateful.
ReplyDeleteYou're very kind! Goodness, thank you!
DeleteWe wanted it to be just like the magazine, but enhanced, and with the opportunity to grow. We can keep adding to an issue so it can become a vital companion to the print version throughout the years, without changing the base pages at all. It was just the right fit.
A fine first blog. That printing press is awesome! And I loved my Windows XP until it was forced from me. I still miss Netscape Navigator so what does that tell you?
ReplyDeleteBirds of a feather, Doug. I think we both have some wing-stretching to do!
DeleteThen again, we might all wind up back at our roots. That printing press looks suspiciously like my inkjet printer. ;-) And don't the tablets of today look like the writing chalkboard slates of long ago, or the Etch-a-Sketches?
Congrats on your first blog post, Donna! I agree with Doug in all his points. And yes, tablets DO look like Etch-a-Sketches!
ReplyDeleteYes, and MP3 players are the new transistor radios (remember just one earbud?), and computers just mimic the good ol' human brain.
ReplyDelete