John Gatski is the Publisher & Executive Editor of Pro Audio Review.
Those of you who have been reading the digital edition of PAR may have noticed that we have a new delivery vehicle for our online edition. We have switched from Olive Software’s Flash-based delivery to a newer, slicker, faster model: Nxtbook, a product of Nxtbook Media LLC.
Now, I am usually an old fuddle duddie about embracing change, but I have to admit that the Nxtbook delivery is a step up from the older Olive system. First of all, it loads nearly instantaneous on a fast computer with speedy Internet connection. And whether you search the pages one flip at a time or you click on page numbers from the table of contents or front cover headlines, it goes right to the page you want very quickly.
A subscriber can also search the book by key words — select an article from the ‘Contents,’ pull down menu, zoom in and out, then select one or two page view to optimize screen preference. It also offers a ‘Tools’ menu pull-down to select such option as thumbnail pages, a link-send function, ‘post a note’ on a page or enable book marks.
My favorite feature versus the old Olive software is the ability to save a version of the issue with a reader so you can permanently keep it on your desktop without being online. The old one would allow the download, but once you shut the computer off it was gone the next time you turned it on. As with the Olive version, you can also print out pages.
By the way, our digital edition continues to make its way around the world. We now have readers in many countries in Europe and far beyond — from the UK through France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Russia; in Africa; in Asia: Japan, Australia, China, and Thailand; and from South through Central America and Mexico. Canada, our neighbor to the north, has the most non-U.S. subscribers.
Many of letters to the editor actually come from people reading the digital edition because they can read an article and click on the ‘letters send’ box to immediately ask a questions or send a comment. If you have not checked out a sample of the digital edition, go to www.proaudioreview.com and check out a sample. If you want the digital version, fill out the free subscription card.
Designers speak out
While you are perusing the pages of this issue — whether digital or print (analog), check out Heather Johnson’s feature on the latest trends in line-array technology from some of the major players in today’s live sound speakers. Designers, such as Meyer Sound Labs founder John Meyer, share their expertise on the the evolution of these speakers as they add self-power, DSP, and continue to reduce in size.
Speaking of live sound speakers, don’t forget to check out the latest live sound console and live sound speaker buyer’s guides in the issue.
Paying tribute
I would like to dedicate this column to the memory of my oldest brother Frank, or Frankie as we called him. Because we were 11 years apart, we were not the closest of brothers, but it is sad when an illness comes along and steals your life at 59.
Frankie was different from me in many ways, patient, quiet and reserved, but he was the consummate Renaissance man of sorts—a man of many interests and talents. He was an intellectual and avid reader, held a Ph.D. in Philosophy, yet enjoyed the simple, pleasurable things in life, such as fishing, woodworking, restoring old houses, and experiencing the world of travel. I will miss those precious visits he made to my mom’s house and all that energy he put into enjoying life that never seemed full of stress.
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