jel@digi-g.UUCP (John Lind) (02/03/84)
I have long been irked by the dating practices of some magazines (please
refrain from pouncing on my straight-line). Receiving the June issue
about the 29 April or the 28 October issue on 20 October tells me that
the "date" of the publication has no meaning and is simply another
way for marketing departments to play with our minds.
What I propose is this: Let such periodicals be dated as the last
time at which information will be accepted for publication.
I see the following possible advantages from such a standard:
1) The cover date would give a good indication of how
current the information is.
2) This MAY encourage publishers to diminish the long
lead time to publication.
The following disadvantages may acrue:
1) Implementation may have to be by (yet another) law. (*SIGH*)
2) There may be difficulty in determining what consitutes
"information" (e.g. advertisments? cover art?)
No matter what is determined to be information, the latest date
this could tend toward would be the day the publication goes to
press, which seems to me to be a far sight better than the
current situation.
Of course, reply via mail or an article in net.followup .
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John Lind, DigiGraphic Systems Corp. 10273 Yellow Circle Drive, Mpls MN 55343
news, mail: ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!digi-g!jel
USnail : 1515 Brook Ave SE, Mpls MN 55414