Why Zine? not E-zine?

[simfonisix]

As we
know, at present, the use of electronic media is seen that the most
effective one in delivering the agenda, advertising, entertainment and
so on. With the widening of this 'Internet-wing', so much the media has declined, and if reviewed, but it
is virtually meaningless to any such as news. All the latest news, on TV, we can get every 30 minutes, we can also get via sms, email, RSS on your PC and more. Additionally, the use of the internet was cheaper than other mediums such as rough material. Similarly,
what happens in the scene today, at which time yesterday, so to speak,
if we could get a copy of the original, how much noise our blood flow
throughout the body? But what you see today? It's not easy to see the friends of readers who want to support the noble efforts to defend the zine as a best alternative reading medium.

They are opinions that we often hear from friends in nor out that almost no
longer care about the arts and secrets of this zine. So, here I want my friends here who have stand alone in defending this zine industry to give their views.

[Billy Da Bunny]

Why say hello when you could just nod? Nodding is faster, uses less energy, and is still a form of communication. Why waste all the effort in actually speaking?

Because some people want to express more than what is capable through a mere nod.

E-zines are dull. They're digital 1010100010101101010101010101010 that we then read as words or pictures. But we can't smell them, tase them, carry them, feel them.

Zines are not easy. Just like typewriters aren't. Just like face to face conversations aren't. But as I get older, I find that when more time and effort and patience are put into something, the more it is actually worth. Speed and ease have their place, but not when it comes to heartfelt communication. When I want the news, I'll use TV or the internet. But when I want to know what it's like to be human, I'll go with zines and handwritten letters.

[Jenna Freedman]

Billy Da Bunny said:

Zines are not easy. Just like typewriters aren't. Just like face to face conversations aren't. But as I get older, I find that when more time and effort and patience are put into something, the more it is actually worth. Speed and ease have their place, but not when it comes to heartfelt communication. When I want the news, I'll use TV or the internet. But when I want to know what it's like to be human, I'll go with zines and handwritten letters.

So well said! I might want to quote you in my zine. Would that be okay? Give me your postal, and I'll send you a copy when it comes out next month.

[Erica S.]

There are things zines do that blogs can't. There are things blogs can do that zines can't. Neither is "better," both have their place, though there is some overlap. Personally, I'm kind of happy that music review zines and local punk scene report zines seem to have gone the way of the dodo thanks to the Internet. There's no reason to put zines and blogs against each other, because they're not in competition.

[Dan C]

I like publishing things online! It is nice to be able to share something with dozens of people (or way more, but I'm referring to my average audience) at no immediate expense! It's nice the way you can edit things that are online! It's nice that your audience can share comments that the rest of your audience can see! It's nice to be able to get something to all my friends and family immediately! It's nice to be automatically picked up by search engines that will help people who might be interested find the stuff I've posted!

I also like publishing things in print! It's nice to be able to hold something! It's nice to be able to mail things! It's nice to be able to put something in a physical location, like a bookstore! It's nice when people feel a little more like they are getting something in return when you'd like them to pay for a copy of your work! It's nice that people can assume some level of seriousness to the project when they know I've gone to the work to put something in print!

Sometimes I like publishing the same things online and in print! It's nice to get some of the benefits of both! It's nice to have different kinds of copies that can be lost or saved in different kinds of ways! It does not need to be a competition between the two mediums!

[simfonisix]

haha...

Mulnix said:

Remember Al Jaffee's fold-outs at the end of MAD Magazine? I'd love to see that on an Ipad.

[simfonisix]

I like zines because:
# Like collecting antiques.
# Like reading during bowel movements.
# Zine is not green house effect.
# Zine does not allow too much gamma radiation directly to me while I read.
# Zine can be recycled.
# Zine can help our economy when we need it.
# Zine can make devices such as fans, hats and jet.
# Zine seat pad may be made during the gig.
# Zine can be read in all areas, including areas that do not have a telecommunications network.
# Zine can be wall hangings.
# Zine will not disappear even if our computer is damaged.
# Buy zine is actually helping our partners to move forward.

[Kate Haas]

I'm not out there banging the Zines Are Better Than Blogs drum, myself. Each has its place. Some zines are better than some blogs and the reverse. Me, I stick with my print zine because I started it before blogs and I'm a creature of habit. That's it, really.

[simfonisix]

I like those "creature of habit" statement..

Kate Haas said:

I'm not out there banging the Zines Are Better Than Blogs drum, myself. Each has its place. Some zines are better than some blogs and the reverse. Me, I stick with my print zine because I started it before blogs and I'm a creature of habit. That's it, really.

[James N. Dawson]

An e-zine is okay if it's easy to print out, double-sided. I've only been able to do that when it's standard-sized though. Same with an origally printed zine later scanned and put on-line. But if a scanned or e-zine is a digest, I've never been able to print one out right. I recently tried to print out the e-zine below, but couldn't figure out how to do it at all:

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profiles/blogs/black-punk-rock-fanzine-...

Why not just read them on screen? That's a major drag, no fun at all. I can't explain why.

An e-zine in layout and appearance looks more like a zine than a blog, so once printed out, it's nicer to read than a printed-out blog. Of course this is only true for those, like me, who like dense layouts. If you like cleaner layouts, wide margins and white space in zines, maybe the look of many blogs wouldn't be an issue. But there's enough variation in blog "templates" to make it hard to generalize about the layout of a blog and thereby the aesthetics of reading them. Some are relatively dense and print out reasonably well.

Also, there seems to be a lot of overlap between blogs and forums and I guess what you might call "super forums" like We Make Zines, what with both involving making "original posts" followed by any number of comments.

I just don't see any clear difference in the content and function of zines and blogs. Both are so diverse. Not all blogs are strictly "diaries" or "topical". Some have substantial, thoroughly developed essays on politics, philosophy, religion, etc., just like zines or paper journals. There are a lot of interesting, well-written blogs.

I think it's a mistake to try to compare e-zines/blogs and zines/journals in isolation. The real differene for me is the different processes in accessing and reading them. The Internet and/or computers tend to be a tedious and often frustrating exercise. I don't have to constantly sign in, log in, register, remember passwords, have my registrations confirmed OR REJECTED via e-mail, etc., etc. with zines, journals and books. I do with blogs and e-zines and forums. Reading and writing on the Internet is a very controlled and very controlling process. Some of it is automated, some is from very controlling "moderators". Doing anything on the Internet tends for me to be a much less simple, relaxing, intuitive experience than just picking up a zine and reading it, setting it aside when I'm tired of it, and coming back to it later, without the whole sign in/login process. I know for many Internetters, the latter is no big deal. For me, it's enough of a bother to make a difference in zine reading vs. blog reading. Also, there seems to be deliberate layers of complexity in trying to just comment to or contact a blogger. Not all, but many. i have very few fond memories, if any, of reading a blog. I have many of zines. If you're better at the Net than I am, again, this is no issue, but for me, doors or gently closed in my face enough to make blog reading/following a bit of a drag, no matter how well-written they are.

So, in a word, it's not necessarily so much content or layout in comparing web-writing vs. zines, but the overall process of accessing, reading and commenting on them. Zines are easier, FRIENDLIER, simpler, and more convenient, and TRUE zinesters are easier to contact with comments. Seperate distinct issues are much easier to "navigate" and "mentally manage" for me than blogs. I tend to get lost in a blog, especially as it accumulates entries, to be unable to go back and find something in it when I want to, another problem I'm not sure if I can explain.

Sorry if this was long, but complicated and subtle issues don't always have the short, soundbite answers that we're apparently supposed to communicate with on the Web.

Here are a couple earlier discussions for anyone who's interested.

http://wemakezines.ning.com/forum/topics/is-a-blog-an-online-zine

http://wemakezines.ning.com/forum/topics/blogs-vs-zines?commentId=2...

JND

P.S.---I wanted to highlight some sentences in here, but I couldn't find the usual row of buttons I thought I remembered use to be there. Like so many experiences on the Net, there's always some technicality, indeed maybe due to my own incompetence, that seems to thwart me. Zines never do that.

[redhoodedm]

Speaking of, have you seen this article? I read it yesterday and thought, "WMZ discussion board, ahoy!"

http://www.bangback.com/print-matters/will-the-ipad-save-zines/

[Aaron Denzel Akeredolu]

I hate the concept of e-zines or just in general reading like a novel or something from a computer screen,personally i've always admired the appeal that comes with reading something physically in your hand,like a lost piece of treasure,which isn't so disposable like records as well.

[ButterSword]

I'm not too sure I got a clear message. What?
Anyway... My wife and I do a webcomic that is also a comic zine.
Both have a positive and a negative. Follow?
Both.