FROM THE EDITOR
Contrary to popular belief, people like us who publish trade magazines are
not experts in the trade which their publications serve. And we certainly
don't pretend to know everything there is to know about the music and
games business.
Sure, we have a good working knowledge of the fundamentals of the
industry, but the real experts, the true professionals in the coin machine
business, are our readers. It is through our readers that we acquire the
information necessary to create an entertaining feature or timely news
report. It is to you, the reader, we go to when we are in search of knowledge
about a particular topic. Without the cooperation of our readers, the
knowledge we acquire would never be shared with the rest of the industry.
I am grateful to all of you who have unselfishly given of your time and
experience to help us bring useful, entertaining and informative material to
the rest of the industry. The reader in Oregon, through us, has helped
expand the Virginia reader's knowledge of his business and vice versa.
What aU this means is that Play M et er is literally y our magazine. Our
primary goal is to please our readers. Since the vast majority of our readers
are operators, most of Play M eI er's coverage has been and will continue to be
operator-oriented.
Since this is your magazine, I would like to publicly invite you, the
operator, to let us know what you would like to see in your magazine.
Likewise, I invite your open criticism, good or bad, regarding any subjects
that have appeared or will appear within the pages of Play M eIer. Only in
this way, can we properly evaluate our past efforts and truly meet the needs
of operators across the country.
In keeping with the concept of reader participation, we've added a new
department called "Sound Off" - and that is exactly what you, the reader,
are supposed to do. Now anything you have to say can be put out front
before the entire industry, to be reacted to, acted upon and interacted with.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this new addition to our regular features and
departments, but most of all, I hope we can count on your participation by
letting us know your gut feelings about any subject or by simply offering a
suggestion, no matter how small, that could help make the music and games
business a better business than it already is.
Of course, we don't neglect the other important parts of the industry -
the distributors and manufacturers - as is evidenced by our two departments
covering those fields and this month's feature on distributors. Our contacts
in these two areas, though, are aimed at helping the operator become better
acquainted with these vital links in his economy. Read on.
Sincerely,
Ralph C. Lally II,
Editor and Publisher
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