Are you one of the many readers concerned that SILICON CHIP is about to radically change its format or editorial content? Over the last few months there have been a number of changes in the marketplace, with some imported electronics magazines becoming no longer available and a major Australian magazine changing its format and content to suit its changing audience. So many readers have phoned, emailed, written and faxed us, asking to be reassured that we were not about to change our approach.

It is very gratifying that so many readers do like our editorial content and presentation and that they don’t want us to change – not a bit. Well, the good news is that we have no major changes in mind.

However, we will continue to make incremental changes in content and presentation, just as we have ever since we started SILICON CHIP in 1987. In the last 18 months, for example, we have put a lot more effort into the circuits and other diagrams, using colour as much as possible, to lift the presentation. Staff member Peter Smith has been largely responsible for all this extra work and while we think it has made a very worthwhile difference, not many readers have commented about it or anything else; until now.

Similarly, with more recent issues, we have increased the size of the magazine by eight pages and now the whole magazine is presented in full colour whereas before, some sections only had spot colour. We are also attempting to include more computer content although I hasten to add, not at the expense of do-it-yourself project articles.

I should also add that we have no intention of dropping the Vintage Radio pages. There was a flurry of correspondence on this topic a few months ago and a number of readers jumped to the conclusion that maybe we were about to drop it. No way. In fact, one of our readers, on renewing his subscription, wrote that if Vintage Radio and Serviceman’s Log were dropped, he would immediately cancel out. Hmm – well at least we know where we stand as far as he is concerned. I am very pleased to report that our subscriptions have taken a significant lift in the last few months, so we must be doing something right.

On the other hand, we often feel a little let down when an issue that we have put a lot of work into (as we always do) does not sell as well as we thought it would. We hear from some readers that "they only buy when something interests them". But we need your support on a consistent and continuing basis if we are going to continue to grow the magazine. Producing eighty or ninety pages of editorial every month is a very big effort for a small publishing company, so we really do need every bit of support we can get, both from readers and advertisers. We also welcome contributions.

If you think an issue of the magazine is a little weak for some reason, please tell us about it. Don’t just "not buy it". Or if you want articles on a particular topic, please tell us about that too. After all, email makes it dead easy to make your views known. On the other hand, if you think that some issue or article was great, please let us know about that as well. Like everyone else, a little positive feedback goes a long way.

In the long-term, we are striving to be the world’s best electronics magazine. We want to continue to provide the best electronics information to all electronics readers, both young and old. We believe we are well along that path. With your constant support, we will achieve that goal.

Leo Simpson