LETTERS

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June, 2000

One Size (Software Model) Does Not Fit All (Web Sites)

I found your editorial (April 15, 2000, page 5) to be interesting reading; however, I also disagreed with most of it. On the picky side, I don't know about Starbucks in Connecticut, but here in Chicago they're not particularly inviting experiences. They usually have very limited seating, what seating they do have is uncomfortable, and the crowds discourage you from sitting and reading or working.

More seriously, I would hate to see magazines adopt a despised software model, namely of requiring a password to enter a nominally free site. The problem is that magazines are not usually read in front of computer terminals. Instead, they're read at work or leisure (such as on the train ride home). Then, often quite a while later, you might want to access the magazine's computer site for more information. If one magazine adopted your model, it would be easy to remember the password. But what about five or 10 passwords. And if the password changed monthly--or weekly?

Scott Melnick PRESIDENT, BLACK SQUIRREL COMMUNICATIONS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS