Editorial
Hello, and welcome to the first issue of the forth year of Mechanical Memories Magazine.
Yes, the magazine really has been going now for three years, although there are times
when it seems like a lifetime! This is one of those occasions, when having been open at
Brighton for the two week Easter school holidays, I've had to bash this issue out in a
matter of days. Many thanks to Stuart Dale, Jeremy Clapham and Robert Rowland,
without whose contributions you probably wouldn't be reading this until May!
Unfortunately, there are considerably less of you reading this than there were last
month's magazine, as at the time of writing over fifty subscriptions have not been
renewed. I know some of those subscriptions will be renewed eventually, and fully
understand how these things get forgotten, but the magazine has now become totally
unviable (not that it ever was really viable). Over the past twelve months, I've 'lost'
over a hundred subscribers, which has nowhere near been compensated by new
subscriptions. Consequently, the subscriber base is falling.
I'm not going to fold the magazine or do a runner, but something has to change. If
every month was like this one, where I haven't had to write articles, things wouldn't be
too bad - after all, I never expected to make a fortune from this; I started the magazine
because I do actually care about our hobby. But when, as I often do, I have to write the
entire content of a particular issue, I end up working extremely long hours almost for
nothing. That cannot continue, as I'm sure you'll all understand, I have to earn a l_iving
just like everyone else. So, if you've considered writing something for the magazine, or
even started an article that was never finished, please give it some more consideration.
After all this is YOUR magazine; I'm just the mug who produces it.
Now, onto some even worse news! I heard from a fellow collector very recently,
who has been burgled. You've probably guessed what's coming next - he had almost his
entire collection stolen, and is understandably gutted. I will go into more detail next
month, but in the meantime I think we should all consider the consequences of having
one or more machines stolen. For instance, would you be able to give the police or
insurance company an accurate description of a machine? I have a large collection, in
fact I don't even know how many machines I own, and yet I would not be able to
accurately describe a single machine. Food for thought I think.
Sorry I haven't any good news
Till next time, all the best
Jerry
Page 3