I found a wayback machine

[ezdays]

MR has been way over priced for years.I keep hearing complaints about how they are dumbing it down for the newbies,but then these same folks will tell you how mouch they learned from MR back in the day before they knew everything there was to know.Which brings me to my permanant complaint about us old folks who complain that kids have no interest in trains but as soon as one of these kids ask a question they get treated like some pain in the arse and are told not to bother me.So where are these kids going to get their info ? Right from mags like MR and RMC and others plus online.Not planning to turn this into a rant so I'm gonna stop here and go look at my dumb ol MR mag. :mrgreen:

I started this thread because I found a copy that was printed around 20 years before I got into the hobby. For you and I and a few others here, that's "the good old days", for a lot others, that could be before they were born. It is interesting how some of the basic things have change over the years, like the cost of everything about the magazine has increased well beyond the inflation rate, yet we're getting a lot less content for the higher costs. I don't know what their readership is, but by law, they need to publish that info once a year in the publication. I'm guessing that it has increased over the years, even at the exorbitant rate increase. The thing that hasn't changed is the content. It's still all about how-to's, tips and tricks, some articles on other people's layouts, product reviews and info on the current technology, whatever that is at that time. I started buying the magazine not only for that, but for the ads. That tells a lot about the current state of where things are and where products can be found.

Regardless of the skill level, I think we all can get some good out of every issue, otherwise why does everyone save all the issues they have over the years? Newbies take all different forms and run the gamut on age. You're right though, some people act as if they can't possibly learn more and treat kids and older folk that ask basic questions, with disdain. You are also right, magazines, how-to books and forums like Big Blue are all decent places to get the info that beginners need. I think everyone in this hobby got their start by reading magazines, even these "old folks", who now complain because others want to learn too.