[Pantontino]

I've just re-read the article in question, and to be fair it appears to be taking a pop (albeit in a light hearted fashion) at websites in general, rather than UKB.

There is a monthly series of columns known as 'Beta' , based on the broadsheet question and answer type thang.

This month's was about John Gaskins' recent Frankenjura triumph, and the subsequent internet based furore.

The offending paragraphs went thus:

"Do you understand any of these arguments?
God, no. So Beta logged onto UKB for enlightenment.

Did you learn anything?
I'm afraid not. Beta got distracted by a thread called 'Dead fit birds who go climbing'. Beta thinks the climbing websites have become a kind of 21st century version of Crags magazine where you can routinely slag anyone off with no evidence in the most deeply personal way you can imagine."

I guess the point (that the article failed to acknowledge) is that UKB was the only place where any sensible, accountable discussion took place. In defence of Beta (and Climber mag in general), I should point out that Beta is meant to be nothing more than a half serious piss take of the current scene.

[Doylo]

just as long as my old man doesn't read it and decide to check out the site. Don't want him to know i'm a sick pervert  

[Bubba]

Oh, that's nowt...and glad somebody else enjoyed the D.F.B.H.G.C thread  

[Fingers of a Martyr]

it say's 'Beta logged on to UKB'. that sounds like he's/she's a member. i wunder who the offender is...

[SA Chris]

Oh, that's nowt...and glad somebody else enjoyed the D.F.B.H.G.C thread  

Is that short for Dead Fit Birds Hoo Go Climbing? :?  

Spelling : F

Could do better.

[Bubba]

[dave]

it say's 'Beta logged on to UKB'. that sounds like he's/she's a member. i wunder who the offender is...

"logging on" is one of those phrases you often hear from people who don#t really know about computers:  "hey chaps, i'm just going to log on to this new fangled interweb thingy", so i wouldn't draw any conclusions from it.

[Bubba]

Doesn't matter anyway really - what was written wasn't  offensive and he/she is right, web forums do allow brutal slagging.....it's just at least here I try to control it.

[si]

It highlights the time difference with magazine reporting  as the forum had this news and discussion on 19th July,

[dave]

exactly - who wans to pay £3 to read 2-month old news?

[Bubba]

As you highlighted above Dave, I think the mags need to get their web presence sorted before they become completely obsolete.

One of the prime functions of the mags is news, but now the web carries almost everything months ahead, rendering one of that function obsolete. They still offer a nice concise roundup which might offer some snippets that aren't available elsewhere, but how often is any news "broken" in the mags any more?

I'm assuming there's still some good articles and photos but as the websites mature and digital photography becomes more widespread, I think they will lose much of this advantage as well. To survive, they've got to be offering top rate content that isn't available online - do they do that?

Of course, not everyone is yet web connected, and there's always the "bog reading" value of a mag, but in a couple of years everyone will be on broadband....and you can't sell a mag purely on it's bogability (there's a new word  :wink: )

[tommytwotone]

i think that'll be the nail in the coffin for a lot of the small mags (think I'm right in think that OTE is now merging with High as well??), it's the immediacy of the net.

I think it's a shame that the mags didn't cotton on and make more of the technology that was available, and with (IMHO) the majority of climbers able and willing to access to the internet they're inevitably going to be playing catchup.

Seriously, mapcase/gortex reviews and some glossy wipe-clean pics of Gresh ain't exactly a USP are they?

I mean, look at the national mainstream press - every major newpaper has an online version where you can read the same articles as the 'hard copy' on the net and for free.

The only exception to this seems to be the Daily Mail :evil:  whose website was effectively and ad for the paper, but even they've backed down and put their copy online.

[tommytwotone]

Bubba, think we're in a state of violent agreement on that one then...great minds and all that!

[Bubba]

:D

[dave]

The only exception to this seems to be the Daily Mail :evil:  whose website was effectively and ad for the paper, but even they've backed down and put their copy online.

Never mind, I'm sure theres a copy of Mein Kampf online somewhere - its al the same.

[Bubba]

When you search for ebooks on p2p, it's always Mein Kampf that seems to come up as the "most shared" book  :twisted:

[Fingers of a Martyr]

I'm assuming there's still some good articles

sorry Bubba but u assume wrong. whoever said climbers could write... jesus christ. its cringe making some of it. 'i, climber a, went to crag x and climbed route b, i would encourage u do to the same and posibley do routes c and d as well.' followed by 3 pages of photos and a crap hand drawn topo.

panton's bouldering scene is the cream of the crop and sometimes the news sections have some decent small features but i rarely read the main front cover stories.

someone should do a weekly downloadable round up of the weeks bouldering news along with some nice photos, mini guides and mebbs sum interviews all for a small fee. a little online magazine basically i suppose.

[Pantontino]

When I first started writing my bouldering news column for Climber (about 4 years ago I think?) I was breaking a lot of news, in fact most of what I put out was 'exclusive'. The quality of info on the climbing websites was very poor; innacurate, patchy etc. OTE was slightly better than the websites, but still pretty sketchy and unreliable.
4 years later, web information has dramatically improved (even OTE has caught up a bit), and I now draw a lot of my research from the internet, whereas I used to do it by emailing people and ringing around a network of contacts.
To a certain extent this does make my column less essential, and I have considered giving it up. Yet lately whenever I mention this to climbers I meet at the crag, many tell me that they don't bother reading web based material.
I agree with Dave regarding Climber's on line presence. It makes sense to run an active website alongside the mag, as there are clear advantages to both forms of media. Yes there will be costs associated with such a move, but websites can generate revenue from advertising - it could be sold as part of a package to the existing magazine advertisors.

[Bubba]

Yet lately whenever I mention this to climbers I meet at the crag, many tell me that they don't bother reading web based material.

I think this is still the case now, but I believe this situation will be drastically different in the near future as the costs and technology associated with web-access continue to fall. It was only a few years ago when most of my friends didn't have mobiles, and look at the penetration of other high tech devices like GPS navigation units and walkie talkies into the great outdoors.

[Pantontino]

The trend is most certainly towards widespread internet access. Even Llanberis has now (finally!) got broadband.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of active climbers purchase magazines/follow climbing websites.

I'm guessing that the grade you climb/extent of your involvement has little bearing on what type of media you invest in.

Some older climbers I know have given up on all forms of climbing media ("seen it all before, why would I want to read another formula article?"). Yet others are fanatical collectors of magazines/ avid website readers.

[Bubba]

I know what you mean about people giving up on the mags - I don't buy them for much the same reason really, and I can always find more than enough to read online.

Technology marches on at an ever-increasing pace - it's not inconceivable that in a few years we won't need mags/paper guides etc but just something like a gps/wi-fi connected sort of electronic paper.... get to the crag and the tool will just download the topo for wherever you're standing at that moment.

[account_inactive]

I can't wait for my hover board  

[Bubba]

You can have one now if you've got the cash:

http://www.futurehorizons.net/hoverboard.htm

[account_inactive]

I certainly want those high top trainers :

[SA Chris]

someone should do a weekly downloadable round up of the weeks bouldering news along with some nice photos, mini guides and mebbs sum interviews all for a small fee. a little online magazine basically i suppose.

You mean something similar to http://www.cragx.com ?