“Readers are treated as if they are experts. Experts already know, so why would they want to buy a magazine and read how-to articles? They already know.”
PC MAGS ARE TOO TECHNICAL!
Having been a subscriber for many years, I am sorry to report that I am not happy with the way tech magazines these days are going. Readers are treated as if they are experts. Experts already know, so why would they want to buy a magazine and read how-to articles? They already know. The ones that do not know are left bewildered and give up. Consult some magazines from the past and note the difference.
On a different note, after having had all the bombardment from Windows 10 and a forced download, it’d be good to get an explanation in great detail of the difference between Windows and Linux with its offsprings. Many articles have been written about Linux, but I’ve never seen a convincing argument to change to it. Walter Jakubzik
Ed replies: APC has always offered a wide mix of stories aimed at users of many different types and of differing skillsets — our philosophy has always been that, even if you’re a tech expert, we all have gaps in our knowledge and there are always new technology developments to learn about and keep on top of.
We do take a more entry-level approach to tech in our sister mag TechLife, so if you’re finding APC too advanced, it might better suit your needs and interests.
On the Windows vs Linux question, we’ve done many introductory stories on the open-source OS over the 36 years APC has been in print, but it’s definitely been some time since we’ve written a direct ‘head-to-head’ comparison between Windows and Linux. If other readers are interested in this, flick us an email to apcmag@futurenet.com and we’ll consider putting together a story for a future issue!
WHAT’S REALLY ‘NBN READY’?
I recently went shopping for a new ADSL modem as my old modem was faulty. In a few months’ time, my connection will be upgraded to FTTN NBN, so I needed a device that had VOIP and a ADSL/VDSL modem that was NBN ready.
None of the major computer shops sold modems with VOIP or even VOIP adapters. As the only way of keeping your land line, once converted to NBN FTTN, is with either VOIP modem or an adapter, I find this surprising.
Only a very few of the ADSL/VSDL modems and some ADSL-only modems had an ‘NBN-ready’ sticker, and when you read the fine print, it was only the WAN port that was NBN compatible. There’s no list of NBN-compatible modems on the NBN website and when I called they referred me to my ISP. My ISP would only recommend their own device.
I have read of at least one customer having his connection blocked because he used a third-party VDSL modem that was not compatible. There should be a list of compatible modems on the NBN webpage and only VDSL modems that are NBN-compatible should have an ‘NBN-ready’ sticker. Many customers will be badly inconvenienced and some will be out of pocket without such clear, honest labelling. Carl Francis