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Would you pay a subscription fee for this forum?

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Brian Hansen

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After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
 
Being a free site encourages open discussion from a broad base of users - if it became a pay service I would be worried that the diversity and number of users would diminish - that is what dpreview has going for it
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
 
True to a point - It just seems like true photograph discussion has
greatly diminished lately. I would not like to see the better posters
disappear though.

Brian
Forbidden Fruit said:
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi Brian,

Yes i would. Because of the very good and thorough reviews of this site i would pay a subscription fee.
Beside of this i think this would better the S/N ratio in the forums a lot :)

Regards,

Andreas
 
As I understand it, for nearly 3 years he has made a living from this web site. If he went the subscription route, he wouldn't need banner ads because the site would close down. He knows he would lose 85% of his audience. Plus, he would have to start "marketing" his website elsewhere to get new people. Better that his energy goes toward the camera companies--which brings me to the point that people (companies) that buy advertising are people with whom relationships are developed. Phil seems to be good at this and it is critical for his work.

Also, Phil used to make it possible for people to make donations, but stopped because he was uncomfortable with it. I don't think it was a good decision to make a direct pitch. He would be better seeking new advertising dollars (pounds? Euro(s)?). Let's hope he can continue to offer his valuable opinions to the viewing ( buying) public.

BG
 
Brian,

As a new D30 owner and photography newbie in general, I think it's a good idea. I wouldn't have a problem letting go of $50-$100 / year, but I have positive cash flow and photography is a hobbie for me, not something that pays the bills. I have received a lot of good advice / ideas through this forum and plan on continuing to utilize it, if I have to pay, well, cost of doing "business" I guess.
Matt
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
 
Yes. How much? I have no idea. Perhaps the amount Phil would make from me if I bought a D60 setup from SSD? ;) Per year? It would pretty much depend on what Phil needs to keep this site going, divided by the estimated number of subscribers.

But I doubt it would be practical to go this route, so many newbies and cash-strapped veterans would bail out. Perhaps there could be some features only paying customers can use, but still leave most of the functionality free. A posting limit for the non-paying customers? Perhaps a 'shareware' type of fee? Voluntary but with a recommended amount?

We could all very well find ourselves with no questions to answer, no one to help, and stuck with just each other's company. (shudder!)

--Stay Focused http://home.attbi.com/~keylargographics
 
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
--I love my D30, but I've ordered a D60!
 
If this site goes subscription it will die. I've seen it happen on another very popular soccer site. It went subscription last December. Very few people signed up. Someone started another free site on ezboard and everyone just jumped over to the free one. Traffic on the subscription site went down by a factor of ten. The banner ads quit drawing revenue because the people quit visiting the site.
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
 
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
There are two good sides to this argument- being free does bring in a lot of views and opinions, that are often very valuable. I guess I can get used to the PMA and new camera frenzy, although I stopped reading D60 Posts sometime ago.

Paying does allow the subscribers a certain input and as long as the input was tempered by an undersatnding that everyone has the right to voice an opinion. Long way of saying yes I would, and I sent Phil a donation the other day through PayPal.

I understand his motivations in asking us to preorder the D60, it is a direct measurement to his advertisers that this site is valuable to their business, not just the readers.

I sent a donation to Phil the other day. I think the prices of Phil's advertisers are often high and I prefer to deal with others who I have a relationship with. Yet, at the same time, I get a lot of value from this site, hence my donation. I am willing to pay for what Phil provides and not necessarily buy from all his advertisers.

Could an alternative approach be that we, the buying public, ask our preferred merchants to advertise here?
--Mike Bauer
 
I Like this site, but there are far too many other sites out there to pay for a forum, unless it was on a "donation" based idea like photo.net

I mean if this site went away I would just be more involved in following Fred Miranda's forum site or something similar.
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
 
Hi Brian.

I was also sad that the photography discussions disappeared when the D60 was announced. But then I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I was wrong in expecting anything else.

DPReview is a site about digital cameras. Not about photography. So the majority of visitors are interested in new gear and what it can or cannot do. They are looking for advise to make them make the right purchase. They don't come here to talk about my latest shot of a polar bear in the local zoo. Although that would be nice :-)

I found out that there is a forum for discussing photography here on DPReview: The samples and galleries forum. There isn't a mention of the D60 over there and it's a very active forum with a lot of nice people.

So I'm happy again. But I probably won't post my pictures here in the future. It's not the right forum for that...

Kind regards,
Hans
Brian Hansen said:
Brian
Forbidden Fruit said:
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
There are other forums on this site that have "true photograph discussion" - to me, this forum is more of an equipment forum, hence the name "Canon SLR Talk".

Obviously, that includes techniques and samples as they relate to the Canon SLRs, but I would expect alot of equipment oriented posts.

Jim

Brian Hansen wrote:
It just seems like true photograph discussion has
Brian Hansen said:
greatly diminished lately
Click to expand...
 
You are just full of good ideas. Now I really feel bad for what I said
before (^:

Bogey wrote:
. Perhaps there could be
Ted B.47613 said:
some features only paying customers can use, but still leave most
of the functionality free. A posting limit for the non-paying
customers?
Click to expand...
I like the idea of a posting limit. Maybe a per post charge after a certain
number of posts - people wouldn't squander their posts on useless
ones.
Ted B.47613 said:
We could all very well find ourselves with no questions to answer,
no one to help, and stuck with just each other's company.
(shudder!)
Click to expand...
YIKES (^:
 
I guess you're both right. I think I was just spoiled by the things
that were posted here prior to the D60 rampage - and want to see
the forum like it was )^:

Brian
Jim Dawson said:
Obviously, that includes techniques and samples as they relate to
the Canon SLRs, but I would expect alot of equipment oriented posts.

Jim

Brian Hansen wrote:
It just seems like true photograph discussion has
Member said:
greatly diminished lately
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I've often been told I'm full of stuff, but rarely good ideas! ;)
Brian Hansen said:
Bogey wrote:
. Perhaps there could be
Brian Hansen said:
some features only paying customers can use, but still leave most
of the functionality free. A posting limit for the non-paying
customers?
Click to expand...
I like the idea of a posting limit. Maybe a per post charge after
a certain
number of posts - people wouldn't squander their posts on useless
ones.
Brian Hansen said:
We could all very well find ourselves with no questions to answer,
no one to help, and stuck with just each other's company.
(shudder!)
Click to expand...
YIKES (^:
Click to expand...
--Stay Focused http://home.attbi.com/~keylargographics
 
It's really quite simple. If you feel you are getting something out of this forum......find a way to show your appreciation. I'm sure Phil isn't running this site on the advice of the family doctor. It's a business. I'll send him $50. Very much worth it!

Hopefully, with enough support he'll be able keep advertising to a minimum and not be enticed to use the "buy it here" campaign.

--Doug Robinson, San Francisco
 
I subscribe to a site about the Toyota Tundra. I was there before it
went subscription and it was all but useless. Some good posts but
a huge number of Toyota bashers, 10-17 year olds and people with
nothing better to do. As soon as it went subsciption everyone
EXCEPT the people that really wanted to be there were gone. The
post are now very informative, interesting AND on topic. There
is large number of posters as well

Brian
Mark Jamison said:
I mean if this site went away I would just be more involved in
following Fred Miranda's forum site or something similar.
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
paying a fee for information & sharing is a no-go on the net (unless you´re relaying dating services etc) it would kill the site in 10 secs

i´m sure phil can manage with the number of hits he´s getting & take out a fair price on ads on the site... if he can´t, phil pop me a mail - i´d love to take on the marketing rights for the site :)

mike

m
Brian Hansen said:
After some discussion in Phil's post about preordering a D60 through
State Street Photo - which would help support the site - an idea was
brought up about paying a fee to use this site. I think it is a
great idea
for a couple of reasons.

1. It would do the obvious and possibly eliminate some of the banner
ads and the need for Phil to look for extra support.

2. It would drive off some of the trollers and other unwanted posters
from this group that seem to have nothing better to do.

3. All in all make for a more usefull site.

Would you be willing to pay? If yes how much? If no, why

Brian
Click to expand...
 
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