Dear Editor,
In the October 16-29, 2015, issue of the P.C., you asked for input on the impending conversion to an all-digital P.C. Here are my thoughts:
- I understand the financial pressures on the P.C., but my question is, “Why do you think that the P.C. must be a self-sustaining entity?” It represents the J.A.C.L. (more on that later), not itself.
- I’m a retired computer engineer from a high tech firm, which is to say I’m not technophobic. I own 3 P.C.s, 3 printers, a smart phone, etc. I’m not afraid of downloading a PDF file. But that is not true of the remaining Nissei’s and a portion of the Sansei’s that did not grow up in the current tech environment.
- I used to subscribe to a bowling magazine that decided to go digital a couple of years ago. It took me 3 months before I realized that I was no longer receiving a printed copy. I did a bit of research and found the digital copy and found they had extended my subscription to the digital version. So, no problems right? Well, here’s the problem: How do I know that a new version of the magazine is available? Even if I get an email, if I happen to be busy and don’t go out immediately to read it, then it gets lost. Not only that, if I read a portion of the magazine, what prompts me to go back and finish the month’s issue? After a couple of months, I didn’t go to the site and most importantly, I didn’t renew my subscription. Basically, I didn’t miss the magazine, so I didn’t see a need to purchase it. Here’s where the J.A.C.L. will experience problems with an all-digital P.C. If I don’t read the P.C., then I don’t know what the J.A.C.L. is doing, how my membership money is being used, certainly there is very little coverage of the J.A.C.L. in other news sources. So, after a while, seeing no tangible benefit to my membership in J.A.C.L., I’m likely to no longer be a member.
- This doesn’t happen with daily newspapers, because every day you can go out to their site and know that there are new articles to read.
- What other methods of funding have you explored? I’m willing to pay extra for a printed copy of the P.C. with my membership dues.
Since declining membership is probably the biggest issue facing the J.A.C.L., I would think anything that exacerbates that issue should be looked at very critically.
Sincerely,
Alan Oyama
