New Digital Scotts Coming

[youpiao]

If you do not subscribe to the Linn’s email newsletter, Scott will be rolling out a revamped digital catalogue, this fall. It will be subscription based, where you subscribe to a particular volume (or volumes). It will be formatted for ease of use on mobile devices, will have enhanced search capabilities, and will show more stamps.
Here is a link:
www.linns.com/news/world-stamps-postal-history/enhanced-scott-digital-catalog-coming-this-fall?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Lyris&utm_campaign=StampMarketInsights

[Phil]

I wonder what took Scott so long to do this.

Just thinking, what if I purchase a subscription but do not renew the following year. Do I lose out entirely or will I be able to view up to the year I subscribed?

[khj]

Based on the bare-bones teaser statements made by Jay, I would almost certainly say that "no subscription, no access". Still seems to be based on some Neanderthal fixed physical catalog page layout, albeit with some bells/whistles attached (e.g., image enlargement, search...), but not even close to the next step they need to be taking.

Thanks for bringing up this bit of news, youpiao! Despite the exciting Linn's headline, the column was a great disappointment, primarily because the minimal description of the "new" product is incredibly disappointing (to me).

I am hoping that Jay's next column will explain that this column is just a big joke; that he was just quoting from an early 1991 proposed column by the editors as they were doing their initial planning to get the Scott catalog into the digital/internet age. And that his next column will reveal the real description of the next e-catalog.

Do these guys at Amos use eBay or Amazon?!? Does it look like you are reading a print sales catalog online? Do they read the online versions of the major traditional print newspapers/magazines? Does it look like you are reading the actual newspaper/magazine online? Why does Amos still try to replicate their print catalogs?!?

Another colossal waste of seed money. They are not producing a new innovative product. They are simply re-packaging an old product.

Hint to Amos: Pssss, it's the year 2021.

[youpiao]

My thoughts, too, k. Just the fact that you must subscribe to Vol. 1 and/or Vol. 2, etc tells me they STILL don’t get it.

[youpiao]

Aug 19, 2021 19:13:46 GMT -5 Phil said:

I wonder what took Scott so long to do this.

Just thinking, what if I purchase a subscription but do not renew the following year. Do I lose out entirely or will I be able to view up to the year I subscribed?

The article says buying digital editions will no longer be an option, which sounds to me like you only have access as long as you are an active subscriber, just as you cannot access the Linn’s Stamp News you paid for, once your digital-only sub expires.

[khj]

It is easier to watch a football game on TV and snidely remark how awful the quarterback was or what they could have done instead, than to tell them straight to their face.

So here are my thoughts, posted in a place far away from the all-searching eye of Amos...

Fundamental suggestions to Amos:
-- quit trying to digitize your print catalog, and produce a digital catalog from scratch (it's not the same thing)
-- don't just look at Michel, SG (not free)... and take a look at Colnect, StampWorld, FreeStampCatalogue... (free+paid); the latter is your real competition, and if you can't produce a better product than they are doing for free, forget it [Note: don't compare their print catalog to the online catalogs, compare their e-catalog to the online catalogs]
-- forget everything you liked about the print catalog, look at the online sites and see how the layout/structure/ability is so non-print and confined only by screen size instead of pre-determined column layout [ I almost fell over when Jay espoused the "two columns of listings" in the newest product offering]
-- quit thinking linearly, but think ease of navigation and free-compile listings (e.g., clickable gallery identifier, searches that produce hits rather than searching through fixed listings...]
-- it's not exceedingly expensive to create a new digital catalog, since it's nothing more than a searchable/redrawable database (if you want to add inventorying, buying/selling... that would have to be a later step)
-- [everybody will hate me for this, even I hate me for saying this] you can sell fixed and rotating ad space for revenue; and eventually, further into the future, clickable buy buttons for each stamp!!!
-- search should be something more than just a linear jump-to-next search (think Google search results)

I can already digitize my Scott catalog and produce a searchable PDF, so your new product does nothing for me except save my scanning time. But unless you are going to charge <$10 a month for subscription to your entire line, forget it -- I'll stick to buying older print catalogs or what I already have digitized since I can always keep those without having to pay monthly to hold onto anything I had access to previously (think Photobucket).

***Bottom line, as long as Scott keeps thinking print catalog, or linearly, I (for one) will continue to be disappointed. I need something that is a notable step above the pdf's they produced shortly after the turn of the century.

Just my arm-chair quarterback thoughts.

k

[angore]

Opinions

I think Scott's (Amos Publishing) challenge is money and fear of not making fatal mistakes with digital products. They have a revenue stream they want to protect and suspect it is shrinking over time - fewer sales of catalogs, declining circulation of Linn's, and fewer sales of albums.

They stopped making their PDF catalogs as they were pirated immediately after release. They even tried to eliminate PDF versions of Linn's to prevent sharing but backed away from that. Years ago. they released an inventory program they had outsourced the development but was not on the market very long.

To convert their catalogs to a truly online format would likely cost a lot of time and money for not much instant return (revenue).

It is that business fork in the road - cannot afford to do it but cannot afford not to do it. This may be why we see half measures. Amosadvantage website is slow and the search is not very good so wonder about their expertise.

There will always be a market for printed versions so they have to spend resources on producing those.

[youpiao]

Aug 19, 2021 20:51:18 GMT -5 khj said:

-- search should be something more than just a linear jump-to-next search (think Google search results)


k

The latest online e-catalogues do give search results à la Google, however it's far from ideal. It is still difficult to tell which search result you want because of the abbreviated text preview.

[khj]

Exactly my point. Google, you can return results as text snippets or images. If I'm looking to identify a US Christmas stamp, and I search the US section for Christmas stamps, I want to see the hits as images not listings.

But to do this, you can't directly use the database as it already exists for the print catalog layouts -- that's way too legacy system. You have to hire a college geek to write a fairly simple code to extract the info and create a separate database. The thing you have to put the time into at first, is "thinking time", as in what you want in the database and what you would like to accomplish in the long term. Because once you set up a database, it's merely an issue of writing code to create an interface to the database (i.e., what you see in the finished product, and what you can do with the information).

If all you are doing is returning hits as listing snippets, you're doing nothing but doing a text search of a linear listing, not a search of the database -- that's nothing beyond what I can already do with Adobe.

[khj]

I completely agree with everything angore posted above.

A true digital catalog is at best a loss-leader in the first few years. But do it right, and in major steps, it can become a major stamp marketplace and alternative source of revenue.

They have to realize their real long-term product is not a print catalog, but the information.

I understand them getting away from the pdf. I would as well. Realistically, while I hate it, subscription is the only way to go in the long run -- see how many software companies have gone the subscription route(!). But Scott has to face that reality now (actually, they should have faced it 20 years ago).

All the buggy whip companies went out of business. But the material used to make buggy whips could have been used to make other things. Just a matter of re-tooling/re-training the factory/workers (or hiring qualified workers and dealing with staff turnover).

[sforgca]

ALL the major online catalogs are the same.
- Basically a pdf/ebook version of their catalogs
- poor images
- generally restricted copying
- poor search capabilities
- no stamp purchase/sell/trade options
- limited information
- no forums
- generally costly subscriptions

A few have figured it out and have become very popular
Stampworld - FREE, easy, decent images of all the stamps and direct buying/selling
Colnect - FREE, well documented, decent images, cross platform cat #'s, some direct buying (mainly eBay), free membership option to buy/sell/swap, good forum

So the big names have to get with it
Hard copy catalogs will keep selling but sales will decline and the output of new stamps will put a strain on their costs and deter buyers paying $$ for their catalogs.

[coastwatcher]

I’m old school in that I much prefer print books and catalogs. Digital just doesn’t do it for me. I’ve been subscribing to Linn’s for several years now and, though my subscription evidently allows me to access the digital edition, I’ve never done so. Whatever Amos decides to do, I hope that it works out well for them, but I’ll never subscribe to or use it.

[PostmasterGS]

Scott just can't quite let go of the hardcopy model. Placing a searchable version of the hardcopy catalog online isn't an online catalog.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a Michel homer, but Scott could really learn a thing or two from them about making an online catalog. Michel's online catalog is also subscription based, but it gets you access to the most up-to-date worldwide listings in a searchable relational database format.

[coastwatcher]

I received my copy of Linn’s Stamp News in the mail today and read the article about the upcoming Scott digital catalog. In it, author Jay Biglake said that he made the announcement about the new catalog at the Great American Stamp Show on Friday, August 13th. I wonder if the date of the announcement is a portent of things to come for Scott’s foray into the digital world. Let’s hope not! 

[angore]

I did not go to the show but does not look like they showed much. The release timing must be based upon the next year set of catalogs. I am not optimistic.

[youpiao]

Aug 22, 2021 5:33:34 GMT -5 angore said:

I did not go to the show but does not look like they showed much. The release timing must be based upon the next year set of catalogs. I am not optimistic.

Since it sounds like they are eliminating regular digital catalogue sales, it seems they should go to a continuously updating model, rather than annual scheduled updates.

[khj]

Which goes back to a basic fundamental -- are you creating an online digital catalog that you can update in real-time, or are you simply trying to digitize your print catalog and will only update it when the next print catalog comes out?

In this day and age, the latter is just a waste of capital/time. Amos needs to be thinking 2-3 steps ahead, instead of trying to drive by looking in the rear-view mirror.