Fine Woodworking Archive

[John F. Gates]

Have any of you been a print subscriber and then added "online membership"? I've been with them since 1980 and can't store all of the magazines. I end up just going to FWW and searching for the article that I want and I'm done. SO, I need to understand what the "Ultimate" is all about because for $100 annually, no way! Can't afford that.

There is the $100 archive...and then keep the subscription going. Guess that is an option. Then the matter of getting rid of all the back issues~!

SO if any of you have figured out what to do, I'd be grateful.

[Al Weber]

I subscribe to the print addition as well as online access. I think it totals maybe $50+ per year. I didn't bite on the $100 package as I don't see anything there that is more useful than my current use patterns. I had to lose my 20+ year printed collection a few years ago during a move but with the online access to back issues and the print edition (I still like to read from something other than a screen) I have what I need.

Taunton is just looking for more profits which I understand but I'm not buying into the high priced spread.

[Marshall Harrison]

I have some kind of online subscription with them but every time I try to use it issues that I'm interested in aren't include and they want money to view then. I can't afford it. And I much prefer to "read" the printed versions.

I also have Kindle Unlimited subscription and I find tht I enjoy reading fiction in the digital format. But for technical stuff like programing books or woodworking etc. I don't seem to learn anything from the digital versions.

[John K Jordan]

I subscribe to the print addition as well as online access. I think it totals maybe $50+ per year. I didn't bite on the $100 package as I don't see anything there that is more useful than my current use patterns. I had to lose my 20+ year printed collection a few years ago during a move but with the online access to back issues and the print edition (I still like to read from something other than a screen) I have what I need.

Taunton is just looking for more profits which I understand but I'm not buying into the high priced spread.

How do you sign up for "online access"? I've looked for it before but all I see is the basic subscription and the Unlimited.

I fine a link to buy the digital archive but the link is dead.
I can locate back issues but can't read or even purchase the one I want. (I'm trying to read #33–Mar/April 1982.)

When looking for back issues I can find the issue but the Buy Now button doesn't even work. Any suggestions?

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

I have only the online subscription. It is about $35/ann. There has never been an article I cannot unlock. I am not sure why one would even need the $100 subscription.

From the home page, click on "Members" at the top. Then You have to scroll down about 60% of the page until you see "Become a Member". Click that.

[Al Weber]

What Prashun said.

[Frank Pratt]

I have only the online subscription. It is about $35/ann. There has never been an article I cannot unlock. I am not sure why one would even need the $100 subscription.

From the home page, click on "Members" at the top. Then You have to scroll down about 60% of the page until you see "Become a Member". Click that.

Prashun, I used to have the same sub as you but let it lapse. Then several months ago I went to renew & that option was no longer available. The only choice was the $100/year for print + online access. I have no use for the paper magazine so I passed. I'd love to have the online only back. Maybe they have that option hidden away somewhere on the site?

[J. Greg Jones]

My understanding is that if you currently have one of the earlier online subscription plans, Taunton will let you keep/renew that plan in the future. If you don't have an active online subscription, the $100 subscription is your only option.

[Frank Pratt]

My understanding is that if you currently have one of the earlier online subscription plans, Taunton will let you keep/renew that plan in the future. If you don't have an active online subscription, the $100 subscription is your only option.

Ah, that makes sense. But actually I have another option, and that is no subscription at all, which is what I've done.

[Prashun Patel]

Oh I see... I have had that subscription for several years and I guess i'm grandfathered...

[Jon Nuckles]

I love Fine Woodworking and have been a subscriber forever, but Taunton loves to slice and dice and reuse their content in so many ways to maximize revenues that it becomes annoying. I enjoy the print version and have never subscribed to the online access. It has been tempting at times, because the online index for the print version has been bad (haven't tried it lately) and it is a bit of a pain to dig out the old magazine to confirm it is the article I wanted, but there's no way I'd pay $100 for that convenience. I'd rather read an article than watch a video, though, so I recognize that the online access might be more valuable to others than it is to me. My Fine Woodworking collection is at my shop and storage isn't a problem, but I do have to brush off the dust before reading!

[Jim Becker]

I can see how it might be frustrating for folks when a resource like FW monetizes their content in multiple ways...but then again, this is an organization that is trying to actually stay alive in ways that other magazines really haven't managed to pull off. It's a tough business with declining subscriptions leading to declining advertising. At least they offer their content, including the massive archive, in electronic form. So many other activity focused publications have completely disappeared, so I hope that FW manages to stick around a lot longer and if what they are offering helps that happen, so be it.

Disclaimer...I haven't had any magazine subscription for many years now, but have a lot of respect for Fine Woodworking from the years I was a subscriber.

[Frank Pratt]

I agree with you Jim, they gotta do what they gotta do to stay afloat. But for me, $100/year is probably at least 3X what it's worth to me, so I'm out. I hope they can find enough subscribers to keep going. It's gotta be a tough to find the balance between charging enough to make a buck & charging so much that subscribers are driven away.

[Doug Dawson]

I agree with you Jim, they gotta do what they gotta do to stay afloat. But for me, $100/year is probably at least 3X what it's worth to me, so I'm out. I hope they can find enough subscribers to keep going. It's gotta be a tough to find the balance between charging enough to make a buck & charging so much that subscribers are driven away.

I'm an online subscriber, so I hope I'm grandfathered in. At a hundred bucks a year, I'd just read it in the bookstore (remember those, you still go to bookstores right?)

For that kind of money, I would expect and demand a search function that didn't work like it was built in a cave!! They should be able to hire somebody that would make that work right. It's an _abomination_ right now. Same for the DVD archive. Absolutely no excuses. What were they thinking...

[Simon MacGowen]

I can see how it might be frustrating for folks when a resource like FW monetizes their content in multiple ways...but then again, this is an organization that is trying to actually stay alive in ways that other magazines really haven't managed to pull off.

No viable business decisions will please everyone, and as you said, FW has to do what it has got to do, even if it means losing some current subscribers (including me with only one year or less left).

I think the best deal is to get one of their digital USBs (new or second hand). You are not gonna miss much, at least not in the next five and probably ten years even though you have no access to the new issues.

Based on the aggressive discounts offered by the woodworking magazines (someone said PW could be had for just $5 ($15?) for one year!), life is tough for publishers (unless you are cash rich like WOOD, WWJ and WC).

Simon