Richard was for some years the boss of two of Exact Editions' founders (Daryl Rayner and me, and Tim Bruce only escaped by being too young), so he knows us well and we closely follow the Charkin blog for tips, gossip and jokes. When he first saw Exact Editions, it looked and felt a bit like a dentist's waiting room -- a handful of good magazines but a very odd collection. If it is now begining to feel like a newsagent, then this is good progress.

We will ask Richard to give another snapshot in a year. It should feel even more like a newsagent then -- we hope so. If in two years it feels like a possible library we will encourage him to agitate for public libraries to give more attention to magazines as well as books! There is another plank for one of the Charkin causes. More good current content in libraries!

exacteditions.blogspot.com/2006/12/dentists-waiting-room-to-newsagent.html

Libraries should have more magazines - of all kinds in all formats. Adam, if you want to do a guest blog on www.goodlibraryguide.com/blog/ please do. Send me a comment to there or an email and I'll post it. We have a lot of librarian readers on the site. Tim

I like magazines to read in my bath, ones which nice shiny pages.. or nice unshiny pages. I give half a dozen varied magazine subs every year at this time but they are never going to be digital.. all the pleasure gone. Sorry,

re Susan Hill's comments.

In developing Exact Editions, we have always seen digital magazines as complementary to print magazines. It is hard to beat the physical pleasure of a magazine, whether on the coffee table or in Susan's bath (even of a newspaper -- in the right circumstance); but a digital version of a magazine can be extremely useful. Having access to a digital magazine subscription undeniably brings to life the archive of the magazine (its 'long tail') and should deepen the value of the subscription. Having a really good archive available to subscribers and loyal readers is ONE way in which magazines and newspapers will maintain their value and their point in a digital age when ANYTHING can be archived.

In fact, books, magazines and newspapers are pretty much in the same boat in the world of the web (and its not the same boat as music and film which will rapidly become primarily and solely web-based). CDs and DVDs are obsolete already, but I reckon that we will still be enjoying some books and magazines in 10, 15 years time as physical objects. That said, it is the plainest technological and economic inevitability that we will ALL have access to many, many, many more titles in electronic and digital form in 10 or 15 years. This widespread and highly efficient access will be a blessing (and occasionally a curse).

Conclusion -- those of us who love books, magazines and print, need to get these objects into the best possible digital shape as soon as possible, and in the richest possible way. Precisely to preserve this great heritage. That way Shakespeare, Dante and even The Illustrated London News and the Beano live digitally....