On Sun, 08 May 2005 22:39:55 GMT, "Peter Aitken"
wrote:

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Peter Aitken" wrote in
om:

I've noticed that magazine reviews never have anything bad to say.
They may pick a nit or two in an attempt to seem objective, but I just
don't trust them. Also a product may work fine when new but be subject
to problems down the road like the one you describe.


The only way it will ever be objective is if there is some non-marine-
business-connected organization that works for its readers, not its
advertisers.....just like Consumer's Union does for its subscribers with
its own testing labs and experts and NO ADS. Otherwise, you end up with
the mutual admiration society that is marine magazines....

Brunswick makes amazingly wonderful boats because they buy wonderfully
profitable advertising in every publication. Then you run into some
little
bump of a blog like David Pascoe's Fiberglass questions:
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_Boats.htm
Funny, I never saw any pictures like this on the Sea Ray ads or in Sea
Ray's magazine I can't stop them from sending me.

What boating needs is some really serious WEBLOGS to bypass the
manufacturer/dealer influence and expose the nonsense in the business.



I agree that the influence of the advertising $ keeps the major mags from
being really objective. Blogs and newsgroups are good but they suffer from
the problem of the irate owner who screwed something up from his own
incompetence, blames the manufacturer, and then goes on a crusade. Sigh.
There is no single good way to get information about boats, electronics,
etc. Life just isn;t that simple.
Practical Sailor should be mentioned here. It is solely subscriber
supported, with no ads (like Consumer Reports in that respect). It
isn't large enough to have specialist experts in everythiing, but it
describes what it has tried, and explains what it likes and doesn't
like and why.



Rodney Myrvaagnes J 36 Gjo/a


Kansas--working to become a science-free zone