Thinkin about going to the eBugle

[MrEarl]

After years of proudly collecting the Buick Bugles (currently have every copy) and since my BCA dues are due again I am considering going with the electronic copy. Wondering how any of you who have made the transition are liking it and are there any continuing or unresolved problems (I don't have a lot of patience these days)

[parkertom]

I went to the eBugle for a while but returned to the hard copy. I found it was easy to forget to read it because I would get the notification email that it was posted at a time I couldn’t read it and would forget about it until much later. The hard copy gets read the day it arrives.
 

Now, I have noticed that the email notice is coming later and later and last month was quite a bit after the eBugle was posted online. I guess if we knew for sure that it would be posted by the 20th or some certain date, it may not be too bad. But they don’t seem to be doing a good job of getting things posted reliably.

 

Also, my computer didn’t like the viewer so it was hard to actually read it all. That appears to be a local issue though.

Edited June 30 by parkertom (see edit history)

[1939_Buick]

1 hour ago, parkertom said:

Also, my computer didn’t like the viewer so it was hard to actually read it all. That appears to be a local issue though.

BCA members can also download a pdf copy of the Bugle

https://www.buickclub.org/ebugle-online/

Quote

2 – Membership Management

<snip>
Access the full e-Bugle library (going back to 1966)

 

For me the online viewer is not the best.  Prefer hard copy, then pdf

 

Edited July 1 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[Y-JobFan]

I like the E because I can read it anywhere without having to take the copy with me while traveling etc 

 

[60FlatTop]

I still enjoy finding my Bugle in the streetside mailbox. The Buick and Cadillac magazines come within a couple of days so I get the joy of anticipation.

 

Being a lifelong book reader I am surrounded by books, all kinds. I have a chair and a throne for reading. A few years ago I realized the value of saving periodicals was of little value. I rarely went back to reference past articles. I no longer keep them. I have a friend who gets the Buick issues some of the time but refuses the Cadillac ones as being too highfalutin.

 

I prefer the hard copy but after recently seeing the clutter and mess even a billionaire can live in I try to be better about recycling.

[dship]

1 hour ago, 60FlatTop said:

 

 

Being a lifelong book reader I am surrounded by books, all kinds. I have a chair and a throne for reading.....

Me too!  I have a reading room where I keep all of my books and a recliner in which to read them.  After a few years, I go back and reread a number of them because at age 75 I tend to forget the story plots. 

[old-tank]

You should be able to access the e bugle now to see if you like it.  The zoom- in feature did not work on my computer so I had to give it up.  You will need the largest monitor made otherwise you're chasing it around the screen.  And forget about smart phones and tablets.

Also it is not a PDF; it's a flip page made from a PDF.  A PDF would be the best to look at but it's too easy to share with people that did not pay dues.  Also a PDF is searchable and this is not.  And the pictures just get worse it if you try to enlarge them.

[60FlatTop]

18 hours ago, old-tank said:

Also it is not a PDF; it's a flip page made from a PDF.

I am a pre-Windows computer user by about 15 years. It is easier for me to type in a line of code than use that flip page thingie.

[NTX5467]

"Hot Key" that "line of code" for faster flipping.

[Shootey]

I’m about to shoot myself in the foot but one goal of a parts or car seeker is to get the earliest version of the Bugle. It’s kind of like getting Hemmings in the old days first class. I assume the on line Bugle arrives earlier than the hard copy. Is that right?  Also, does the online version arrive in everyone’s email inbox simultaneously?

 

Aestically the hard copy is much more satisfying than the online version. They do pile up in the garage though. I have a bunch of Skinned Knuckles and Torque Tubes if anyone wants them. 

[parkertom]

1 hour ago, Shootey said:

I’m about to shoot myself in the foot but one goal of a parts or car seeker is to get the earliest version of the Bugle. It’s kind of like getting Hemmings in the old days first class. I assume the on line Bugle arrives earlier than the hard copy. Is that right?  Also, does the online version arrive in everyone’s email inbox simultaneously?

 

Aestically the hard copy is much more satisfying than the online version. They do pile up in the garage though. I have a bunch of Skinned Knuckles and Torque Tubes if anyone wants them. 

They had been getting posted significantly earlier for a while. That doesn’t appear to be the case lately though. As of this morning the July issue still had not been posted on the website and I imagine the hard copy will be getting to my mailbox soon. In the past it was being posted closer to mid-month, weeks before the hard copy was arriving. If you choose hard copy, you still have access to the electronic for the early birds!

[MrEarl]

Thanks for the input guys, I’m just sticking with the hard copy. 

[EmTee]

19 hours ago, Shootey said:

I assume the on line Bugle arrives earlier than the hard copy. Is that right?

That's definitely the case for the "e" version of POCI's Smoke Signals.  I bought a set of spinner hubcaps for my '64 GP from someone who advertised in the magizine.  He was surprised when I called and asked whether I had received my magazine already.  I told him I subscribe to the electronic version.  That early delivery advantage certainly worked for me! 

 

As for the electronic Smoke Signals, it sounds like The Bugle uses the same (or very similar) 'page-flip' viewer.  I wasn't thrilled with it at first, but I've gotten used to it and think it's OK now.  POCI discounts the annual membership dues for e-subscribers.  The only minor annoyance is that I need to magnify each page to actually read the article on my laptop, however, I can use the 2-page view to flip through until I see something that I want to read in detail.  It's also nice to have fingertip access to old issues without having to dig through cardboard boxes in the garage...

[Machine Gun]

All of my magazine subscriptions are now in pdf downloads: three Hemmings publications and the Bugle. While I prefer to leaf through a hard copy I also like to keep a library of back issues, which isn't practical with paper versions as others have said. I've not had a hard copy magazine in years and I won't go back. I absolutely detest those page-flippy  online viewers so I use the free Acrobat or Chrome pdf readers.

Edited July 4 by Machine Gun (see edit history)

[old-tank]

3 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

All of my magazine subscriptions are now in pdf downloads: three Hemmings publications and the Bugle. While I prefer to leaf through a hard copy I also like to keep a library of back issues, which isn't practical with paper versions as others have said. I've not had a hard copy magazine in years and I won't go back. I absolutely detest those page-flippy  online viewers so I use the free Acrobat or Chrome pdf readers.

Where do you get a pdf version of the bugle instead of the flippy page thingy?

[60FlatTop]

4 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

I also like to keep a library of back issues,

There is a distinctive noise when a stack of library slowly goes to the same horizontal plane. I know it well. A .pdf won't do that.

[Machine Gun]

1 hour ago, old-tank said:

Where do you get a pdf version of the bugle instead of the flippy page thingy?

Log into the Member Management section of the BCA website. Go to the Member Info/Address change page and look for a button on the right-hand side of the page that's labeled "Access to the e-Bugle library." That'll take you to all issues of the Bugle dating back to the Great Flood. They're downloadable from there as pdfs.

[old-tank]

2 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

Log into the Member Management section of the BCA website. Go to the Member Info/Address change page and look for a button on the right-hand side of the page that's labeled "Access to the e-Bugle library." That'll take you to all issues of the Bugle dating back to the Great Flood. They're downloadable from there as pdfs.

Thank you!!  This is perfect. 

I guess this feature has been there all along if you poke around on every button in every corner of the BCA website.

[EmTee]

7 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

There is a distinctive noise when a stack of library slowly goes to the same horizontal plane. I know it well.

Does it still happen if you're out for your morning coffee...?

 

Edited July 4 by EmTee (see edit history)

[NTX5467]

In earlier times, many of us accumulated "libraries" of car magazines.  Back when each one usually had some interesting "tech" articles and "tech help" columns.  WE could learn lots from those articles!  Plus other things in those magazines.  Nothing, really, has changed, just newer vehicles talked about.  Back then, accumulation of such knowledge for future use, could be a source of pride and later value.

 

Then metal shelving units from Sears were bought and things progressed for decades.  Then came "e-reader" things.  Digitally stored rather than printed items.  First service manuals and parts books.  Then magazine archives.

 

HOT ROD magazine has all of their magazine articles archived on their website.  Eash to sign up to get access to!  BUT the format of such is like many online cat part vendor catalogs.  "Flippy things"!   I went into HOT ROD to look for something the other night and found that I could not read those pages!  What good is a format for magazines if it can't be "page enlarged" to actually read them?  Using my laptop "mouse pad" to enlarge did not do anything good, either!  So another "great tech advance and service to the community" is totally worthless to many it is supposed to attract.  Something better needs to replace those formats!

 

I have downloaded many OEM parts books and service manuals in .pdf formats and they work great.  I do miss the turning pages, putting a "bookmark" in places, for each quick reference, though, but when we went to electronic parts books at work, I had to evolve out of the prior ways of doing things, the going back and forth between pages, back then.

 

ONE of the many reasons for the e-Bugle was for our international members to get their magazine at about the same time as print subscribers in the USA region.  Rather than weeks later, which could help them have the same opportunity for parts purchases.  A valid point!  Also a point which some USA subscribers looking for parts have taken advantage of, too.

 

AT this point in time, I've got some shelving units 4'x12"x6' full of archived treasures of many car magazines and related publications going back to about 1960, including many HOT ROD magazines with the old "green tint" pages, "pre-color".  So, I understand how therapeutic it can be to actually turn pages and read of prior times, activating many memories in the process.  PLUS the joy of finding something you knew was there and it was!  Digital just is not the same, but EACH has its own place.

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[B Jake Moran]

On 7/2/2024 at 9:10 PM, MrEarl said:

Thanks for the input guys, I’m just sticking with the hard copy. 

I’m old. I like a magazine or book.  I read almost every morning while eating breakfast.  If settled in for the night or sitting on the front porch, I like to read magazines.   
 

e-magazines are actually less manageable than paper magazines in my opinion. As Old tank noted, pixels and content can change form etc.  

[gsjohnny]

i like hard copy...but most of all....i can give to a possible new buick member.

let's see you do that with your e bugle.

[Machine Gun]

11 hours ago, gsjohnny said:

i like hard copy...but most of all....i can give to a possible new buick member.

let's see you do that with your e bugle.

Hold my beer... Snip from my July 4 post above:

 

"Log into the Member Management section of the BCA website. Go to the Member Info/Address change page and look for a button on the right-hand side of the page that's labeled "Access to the e-Bugle library." That'll take you to all issues of the Bugle dating back to the Great Flood. They're downloadable from there as pdfs."

 

This assumes that your prospective member has a computer.

[NTX5467]

Who wants to go to the trouble of reading one on their phone?

[EmTee]

Looked at my first e-Bugle last week; seems to work fine on my Macbook using Firefox.

[Shootey]

Works on an iPad too.