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Jon Excell
Editor
The Engineer
The age of engagement
Given the degree to which it’s taken over our lives, it’s easy to forget that the rise of the web is a relatively recent phenomenon. But, I’m guessing like many Engineer readers, my career began before this revolution.
For a fledgling journalist, the pre-internet world could be a lonely place. Days, weeks and even months might pass by before words committed to the page provoked a response. And although the working rhythms were perhaps gentler, and the time for research, discussion and investigation more generous, the fear that carefully crafted copy would go unread and unnoticed was never far away.
The reader engagement encouraged by the internet has banished this uncertainty. Our efforts are now instantly measurable, our errors publicly dissected, our successes trumpeted and our remit refined by the barometer of reader opinion.
Indeed, the outpouring of response to the announcement that we’re turning away from print — ironically our website’s most-commented-on story ever — was bitter-sweet confirmation that The Engineer has long given its readership what it wants and I’d like to thank all of you for your comments.
Lots of questions have been raised over the past week, and I’d like to use this opportunity to address a few of those and tell you about some of our plans over the coming months.
- First, as some have suggested, there are no plans to put the website behind a paywall. For the foreseeable future, our great content will remain free to view.
- The last issue of The Engineer is now available in digital form. You can view an online digital version here. Or if you want something that you can view offline, or print off and take to the bath, you can download a PDF version here. This is the first step towards a dedicated digital edition that will be launched in September and is likely to look somewhat different to the print magazine.
- We’re also looking at digitising large sections of The Engineer’s historic archive — an endlessly fascinating repository of the UK’s industrial history.
- Finally, we’re not completely turning our back on print. Over the coming months, we hope to publish a number of sector-specific print supplements, and we’re giving careful consideration to the suggestion that we produce an end-of-year Engineer annual that will look back at some of most striking and inspiring technological developments of the past 12 months.
- Last but not least, we have heard your calls for the resurrection of the crossword, and hope to be able to launch an interactive, online version of the much-missed feature in the very near future.
Readers' comments (8)
Anonymous | 20 Jul 2012 1:37 pm
It would have been a fitting end if a facsimile of the First Edition of The Engineer had been included with the last.
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Julian Scott | 20 Jul 2012 2:32 pm
I like the sound of a PDF version to download,the annual sounds good too, might make a good Christmas present?
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Anonymous | 20 Jul 2012 3:17 pm
i agree with julian, pdf great and the end of year annual would be good for christmas. thank you for good content
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Anonymous | 20 Jul 2012 4:28 pm
Thanks for the thought but an online crossword might be a tad tricky in the bath!
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John Douglas | 20 Jul 2012 4:31 pm
My 92 year old mother is not a reader of the Engineer, but would want me to point out that it is not "different to..." but ""different from...".
While on the subject of usage, I saw "medias" the other day. Such a travesty would never have made it past the traditional sub-ed’ into any printed form, perhaps contributing to that time lapse between pen and reply envelope. Sadly they are all too common in this easy-osey world of instant self-expression and self-gratification.
My point is not purely to be curmudgeonly, but to appeal to all for a bit more care in communication. Just because a piece is going to be published on the instant, it does not mean that text should not be carefully composed and checked. Even the most brilliant ideas are worthless if they are not expressed in clear terms that are readily understood by all. The feedback columns in this august publication illustrate my point all too frequently.
Please don’t abandon journalistic rigour along with the founding medium.
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Editor's comments | 20 Jul 2012 4:31 pm
Thanks for the comment. To quote Oxford Dictionaries, 'There’s little difference in sense between the three expressions [different from, different to, different than], and all of them are used by respected writers.' http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/different-from-than-or-to
You're unlikely to have seen the word "medias" on this website, but it's worth bearing in mind that English, like most tongues, has always been a naturally evolving language. It wouldn't be that surprising to see medias become an accepted word in the not-to-distant future as we continue to jettison Latin linguistic protocol.
But please rest assured that standardised spelling and grammar are very important to The Engineer team.
Anonymous | 20 Jul 2012 4:32 pm
I think the idea of a facsimile of the very first edition is a good one. Another magazine did that recently with their 150th year anniversary edition. It was interesting to see how, and if the things that were considered news and interesting back then are similar.
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Dyslexic Steve | 20 Jul 2012 6:14 pm
It is a great shame that such a high quality publication has to go, but the times in which we now live dictate to us all that change is inevitably driven by financial constraints.
I am sure future readers will look back and say that the decision was a wise one! Far better to go all electronic now than to wait, wilt and die under a financial avalanche!
Good luck with the new on-line version and don't get too hung up over pedant's comments! Such types cannot help but pick up poor gramer, bad sqelling and Engrish!
But some of the world's greatest Engineers have been disslex-sick, don't U-know!
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Anonymous | 23 Jul 2012 4:32 pm
I have been reading engineering titles for many years, as a member of an association or 2 I receive the associated magazines as well as ones such as the engineer. I have always regarded the engineer as my number 2 publication behind an association magazine called Professional Engineering and am genuinely sad to see its untimely demise in what most of us engineers feel is a good time to be in manufacturing.
I am one of the readers who see the closure of print as a huge negative and without this medium I feel the engineer will not be as strong. By all means prove me wrong but I for one will be awaiting the letter box for professional engineering. I will not be spending by money using my printer's paper to save The engineer the trouble.
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