I don't think an e-strider should ever replace the real thing but it would be good to offer the option. I'll talk to the printer - but not now because December Strider is on the point of going to press...

I agree with Andy, you can't always get onto the computer especially when you have 4 kids trying to do their homework on it at the same time, i like to retreat into the background with my hard copy

I like my 'hard copy' of Strider. I can read it anywhere, anytime. On-line publications are useful but not yet entirely practicle from a portability angle.

Technically Acrobat Distiller will create a PDF document from just about any source. Cost is around 180 UKP.

AndyL

It looks nicer on a pdf file as well - or it does when the printer sends me the proofs - because, of course, the pages are much bigger on screen. No idea about the economics of it, but it would be great to open the debate - anyone fancy raising the issue at AGM?

Has this idea been considered? I certainly don't need to have a hard copy of Strider. Would it save the LDWA money if fewer copies were printed and posted?

It should be quite practical now, for comparison I just downloaded a Scientific American journal which was less than 10Mb. Presumably Strider is already in electronic format of some kind somewhere (Word document maybe?), so converting it to PDF is a very simple task that can be done in seconds.

There are already some consumer magazines that have gone down this route, such as PC World - and they are hefty publications.

Regards

It isn't really practical yet (due to the massive file sizes) but how about an on-line version of Strider (as an alternative to the printed version) ? I'm trying to reduce the amount of paper in the house and less magazine subscriptions is one way to go. So what I'm proposing (when the UK gets to 8MB+ broadband in a few years) is to have pdf or similar online Strider as an alternative to receiving the printed copy. It would have identical content and would cost the LDWA less (assuming that server capacity was not great cost). I'm not suggesting that members would print it, but they may download and view offline or online.