A good use for an old laptop.

It was inevitable that the digital age caught up with this hobby. No I’m not talking about blogs, forums, email and websites, but those beloved printed magazines we love an often have with us at our workbench as we build.

As the demand (not necessarily  from old fart scale modelers) from society as a whole turns towards mobile and portable devices to get and view their newspapers and periodicals, the printed magazine is nearing inclusion on the endangered items list.

This week alone I have been advised in my duties as a marketing consultant for my clients in the this hobby that more and more of the scale modeling magazines we read cover to cover as it hits the newsstand or our mailboxes are going to a DIGITAL format. That means you’ll be reading them online, on your smartphone or iPad type device.

I can only imagine the comments and conversations when this sinks in to those in the hobby who at the time of their subscription renewal have to decide which (for the time being) prefer to receive…print or electronic media.

Eventually there won’t be a choice! It will be up to you what pages and images you want printed and you’ll be the one responsible for keeping your color printer filled with paper and full ink or toner cartridges. Could this be the arrival of the “paperless society” we’ve been hearing about since the mid seventies?

So start clearing off some space on your workbench for your computer to sit, you’ll need it to reference as well as read the articles in your favorite scale modeling magazines. Or take that step and get yourself something smaller and portable…an electronic tablet…iPad or other similar device. Either way, if you’re technically challenged, you need to think seriously about finding a teenager to teach you what you need to know to become computer savvy enough to learn how to save and store the information you want for future reference.

Face it they are taking writing out of the schools and kids are being issued laptops or tablets in school, not textbooks. The clock is ticking…