FREE Download Current Newspapers & Magazines

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Charles Patrick

I see one person reporting a problem with the program. Are there others?

Is there anyone who has tried the program that says it does not provide value?

I'll try it when I get home; work has the site blocked. (No idea why. But it may be the concept of "free software;" work has most of those blocked.) However, it's not a "30 second download" for me; it's 10-15 minutes depending on how fast my dialup connection is working that day.

The other comments make me concerned that it may not work for me at all--it may time out on a dialup connection. Fortunately, my interest in mainstream news is limited, so I'm not worried about "missing out"--I'm looking at this as an opportunity to expand my interests to content carried on websites that take too long to load for me to look at them normally. News articles without flashing GIFs and click-for-next-page links might be what it takes for me to get my news from something other than the Daily Kos.

(I've gotten better. I used to get my news from metaquotes.livejournal.com.)

I'm a bit surprised by the confrontational attitude about something that can be free and beneficial to forum members.

It smacks of deceit. There's a difference between, "hey, I found this cool new web freebie!" and "hey, I made this cool new web freebie!"

Kovidgoyal is a firm supporter of Calibre--but he doesn't try to hide that he's biased; of course he thinks it's great; its features are perfectly aligned with his preferences, and adding features for other people comes after feedback. (And he wants other people to be happy with it, so he modifies it often. But he knows that what he thinks "works just fine" may not be fine for other people.)

The website reads like hype--Here's A Great New Free Thing!!!--with no technical details, no list of actual features, no mention of the differences between the basic & more advanced version. And for a startup/just-past-beta-edition, that's okay... but don't take it as hostility when interested people ask for the details the website doesn't provide.

This forum's active members may have more technical expertise than News2PDF expects its users to have. This forum also has plenty of people who don't have that expertise, who rely on the experts to analyze new ebook tools and let them know what's most relevant to them: will I *like* using this? Is it easy *for me* to use? Will the content be useful to me?

If you've got technical details, and you don't think they'd be bad for sales/downloads (and if you do, you shouldn't be pushing the product)--maybe set up a section of the site for that info. Explain that for subscription-only websites, it can't download; it doesn't replace the subscription. Explain what kinds of filters it has--does it grab *every* news article by that site in the last day (or three days, or whatever), or can you filter by category or keyword? If I only want "business news," can I get that and avoid the election stuff? (Or vice versa?)

Set up an area for "known glitches" so you can mention that you're working to fix them. If you've got lots of interaction time available, make a page where people can leave comments--which means you'll be bombarded with questions/comments like "Why can't I read this on my MP3 player?" and "this sucks! It doesn't show flash videos!"--which tech-savvy people will happily ignore.

For a lot of us, privacy is important. So "free Basic... more with registration!" instantly triggers questions about, "How much nuisance code has been added to the Basic version to 'encourage' registration or purchase?" (Since that's a *very* common trait for freeware/shareware, it's not an unreasonable thought. "Free, with annoying popups every 5 minutes/10 uses" is a strong negative feature.

[moosejons_dad]

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[Charles Patrick]

Thanks for your thoughtful post. I've returned to my original post and appended notice of my affiliation.... And I'm sorry about that.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The other comments make me concerned that it may not work for me at all--it may time out on a dialup connection. ,,,News articles without flashing GIFs and click-for-next-page links might be what it takes for me to get my news from something other than the Daily Kos.

Talk to us about this. We'd like to hear the results under your dial up conditions.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The website reads like hype--Here's A Great New Free Thing!!!--with no technical details, no list of actual features, no mention of the differences between the basic & more advanced version.

Regretfully, hype sells and we haven't yet decided what the differences in versions will be, as I've described in an earlier post.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

This forum's active members may have more technical expertise than News2PDF expects its users to have.

I agree completely.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

If you've got technical details, and you don't think they'd be bad for sales/downloads ... Explain that for subscription-only websites, it can't download; it doesn't replace the subscription. Explain what kinds of filters it has...Set up an area for "known glitches" ..."free Basic... more with registration!" instantly triggers questions about, "How much nuisance code has been added to the Basic version to 'encourage' registration or purchase?"

All valid points and now in process.

Glitches / Server Status here:

http://www.news2pdf.com/glitches-server-status/

[Charles Patrick]

Originally Posted by moosejons_dad

News to PDF is not a free service-check it out. <snip>

Incorrect.

The Basic service at http://www.News2PDF.com is free.

This was discussed earlier in this thread.

There is value in the News2PDF Basic service.

News2PDF has no pop-ups and you are under NO obligation to register or give your e-mail address.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Charles Patrick

Regarding an earlier post, we've been developing PC software for more than 20 years, so you don't have to worry about us going out of business.

Let me explain why I don't think you're going to stay in business long:

You're trying to charge money for a service that is available for free for example from calibre and the mobipocket desktop software.

[Charles Patrick]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Let me explain why I don't think you're going to stay in business long:

You're trying to charge money for a service that is available for free for example from calibre and the mobipocket desktop software.

Hi Kovid. I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate your viewpoint.
I also admire your skill and generosity.

Free tap water versus expensive bottled water
Free Open Office (and Free Google Docs!) versus Microsoft Office ($$).
Free Television news versus the Newspaper ($).
Free Television Newsmagazines versus newsstand print magazines ($$)
Free Linux Operating System versus Microsoft OS.
Volkswagen Touareg $40k versus the Porsche Cayenne ($60k, for essentially the same vehicle).
$4 Starbucks coffee versus 11-cent premium coffee made at home.

The *topics* of many paper books is available for free online - does this mean that paper books will no longer sell?

There are many examples. If a product is easier, faster, cheaper, more convenient, then some subset of customers will pay for it - even if it's free, elsewhere - (and some won't).

For what it's worth, many of the products from which I've earned a living in the past 20 years were available for free - but people bought from us anyway because we provided value or a feature that they perceived to be worth the price.

To be clear: We are charging ZERO right now. Nothing. Free. We've been (financially) successful with other similar products, so we aren't doing anything we're not familiar with - other than releasing 3 weeks early

P.S. this product is not all mine. It was written by a staff.

I'm okay with having a philosophy that's different than yours, and I'm completely honest and true when I say I really do respect you.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Charles Patrick

Hi Kovid. I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate your viewpoint. I also admire your skill and generosity.

Free bottled water versus tap water. Free Open office and Free Google Docs versus Microsoft Office ($). Free Television news versus the Newspaper ($). Linux (Free) versus Microsoft OS. Volkswagen Touareg $40k versus the Porsche Cayenne ($60k, for essentially the same vehicle). $4 Starbucks coffee versus 11-cent premium coffee made at home. The *topics* of many paper books is available for free online - does this mean that paper books will no longer sell? There are many examples.

If it's easier, faster, cheaper, more convenient, then some subset of customers will pay for it (and some won't), even if it's free, elsewhere.

For what it's worth, many of the products from which I've earned a living in the past 20 years were available for free - but people bought anyway because we provided value or a feature that they perceived to be worth the price compared to "free." I've learned that many people (not all people) will pay for a product that adds value or provides convenience.

I'm also okay with having a philosophy that's different than yours, and I'm completely honest and true when I say I really do respect you.

Well, all the best

[Elfwreck]

[QUOTE=Charles Patrick;309177]Regretfully, hype sells and we haven't yet decided what the differences in versions will be, as I've described in an earlier post.[quote]
Hype sells to people who don't pay attention to what they're buying. In a technically-aware marketplace, hype gets *viewers* but not necessarily *buyers.*

Having *any* list of the different features by version, even if it's marked "current version; may not remain this way" would help.
Basic--FREE, ANONYMOUS
X# of news feeds (list, or short list of presumably popular ones
1-3 days most recent articles
output to size [kindle, sony, iliad, etc.]

Registered--FREE
Y# additional news feeds
1-7 days recent articles (or whatever)
output
Other Nifty Registered Feature (um, notice of upgrades?)

Full-Featured--PAID
Complete newsfeed list
__ days recent articles
output formats
Other Paid Features


Or whatever. Not having a feature list, and saying "try for free," sounds very much like "and it shuts off or starts demanding money in a little while." There's nothing on the site (last night; I can't check today) to indicate that this is a multi-level service, with some useful features for Basic users, a few more coming with registration, and the full pack for paid users. (It also gives no information about *how much* they'll be paying. And that's crucially important--especially if it's a subscription service rather than a one-time fee.)

If the marketing dep't hasn't yet figured out how all that works... someone needs to tell them they're losing customers through indecision, and creating bad PR by not being ready to answer standard, basic business questions.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Let me explain why I don't think you're going to stay in business long:

You're trying to charge money for a service that is available for free for example from calibre and the mobipocket desktop software.

I bet if you had a "premium" version of calibre people would buy it.

BOb

[Charles Patrick]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Hype sells to people who don't pay attention to what they're buying. In a technically-aware marketplace, hype gets *viewers* but not necessarily *buyers.* If the marketing dep't hasn't yet figured out how all that works... someone needs to tell them they're losing customers through indecision, and creating bad PR by not being ready to answer standard, basic business questions.

You may be right and I sense the urgency.

An advantage we have is that News2PDF provides value *immediately*. Just because your automobile may be worthless 10 years from now, doesn't mean you don't use it today to get to work each day.

Likewise, people can be using news2PDF to get news each day - right now. The program could become better - or not - but I promise they'll get value from it - at no cost - if they install it now.

[Charles Patrick]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I bet if you had a "premium" version of calibre people would buy it.

BOb

Kovid. You're beloved here. There's no doubt about it.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I bet if you had a "premium" version of calibre people would buy it.

BOb

Perhaps, if I ever quit my day job

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Perhaps, if I ever quit my day job

See that's a bit backwards. Start selling it, then quit you day job.

BOb

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

See that's a bit backwards. Start selling it, then quit you day job.

BOb

I guess I meant if I ever decide to quit my day job, which is in a whole other area of work.

[ddavtian]

Originally Posted by Charles Patrick

Please check Newsweek, and Forbes again.

Charles, Forbes worked when I did not check "Most Popular Stories". With it, it always errors out and exits.

Any update on activation? :-)