Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M
Monday Feb 18 2013
Readers DIgest used to be a staple of all waiting rooms. Millions of Americans subscribed. The magazine also offered condensed books, popular titles edited to shorter versions. But RD has taken Chap 11 for the second time since 2009.
It actually has a website
Does anyone go there in this day of so many websites?
Like Fuller Brush, Life Time Newsweek magazines, this is antoher Norman Rockwell moment that may be passing to obscurity.
I am not surprised, disapointed yes, surprised no. The fact of the tablet culture has taken hold is not disimilar to the switch from records and tape players to CDs or the switch from CD’s to downloadable music. While it does satisfy the need it rarely rises to the level of satisfaction or the reward of closing the last page in a great book. Here is where I lose the train of thought “millions without power along the east coast” That said Print has to do its part, no longer will a condensed version of little house on the prarrie will cut the slack, now we need a condensed version of “50 Shades of Grey”. Perhaps it is a change in the concepts of who we are. There was a time when millions read exactly the same storys shared a very similar set of values and the like. Today everyone wants to be an individual to such an extent that the “I” has litterally become “We”. RD needs to remake itself if every a company needed a different name this is it.
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Maybe RD needs to change its “market target”. Who were its main readers? Where are they now? How do you get your material into their lives? It’s never to late to change its strategy. Maybe the leadership is too stubborn to open up their minds to accept change. I’m sure people who read RD, still enjoy RD. Just like the comment above, not everyone is ok with condensed versions. That is a market niche in itself. I’m in my 30’s, and I enjoy actual books, paper, and magazines. I hate having to turn on a comp, plug it in, log in, etc. I enjoy reading without having the hassle of setting up to do so. I blame RD leadership for not reaching out to people like us. New leadership, and less bankruptcy.
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Perhaps RD should make themselves the winner of a few of their own sweepstakes …just enough to pull themselves out of the hole they have dug.
I wonder if a fat cow can get fatter drinking its own milk? Many publications have seen their lights go out but you would think that after 91 years someone would know a thing or two on to keep their business afloat. Did they business model themselves after Congress?
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Professor Elam 
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