|
G'Day again Dave,
Something I thought of last night, although I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is going to be. Have you guys ever thought of including a CD with the magazine? There is a lot of astronomy related software out there that I'm sure many people would like to try, but don't have sufficient internet access (ie trying to download large files over dial up, or maybe other restrictions like work computers) to download. Maybe including a CD with the magazine could help these people out? Examples of programs I'd expect to see on there would be Registax, MaximDL (all demo's of course), maybe that Dark Adaptation software that was mentioned elsewhere on this forum, a trial version of Photoshop CS, etc etc. It probably doesn't even have to be specificly astronomy related - there's a space shuttle simulator available as freeware for windows called "Orbiter", which is supposedly in use by the ESA to train some of their astronauts on operating in the shuttle.
Apart from software, you could also include users photos, so that people can use them as desktop background images. Maybe include a bunch of "raw" photos for people to try their hand at processing. Along similar lines, it would be simple to include a video tutorial or two on photo processing - that way people can actually see the effect that each processing step has on the finished product.
The major arguements against this idea that I can see is the both the increase in cost it would incur, and what to do when you run out of software to include on the CD. Potentially, both of these could be solved with the same plan - maybe only include a CD every couple of issues? These issues could possibly cost a few dollars more - maybe even offer CD and non-CD versions?
Food for thought.
Cheers,
Brad
|