Time to take stock

Through this column, I have made many promises to you, the PC Quest reader.

It’s time to take stock and see whether they have been kept. In other words,

it’s time for me to present our report card.

In November 1999, in my very first Leading Edge, we had

promised to ‘interact with you directly, and help you choose and use

technology better’.

All the other promises came in May this year. Then, we

promised better subscriber servicing by moving over to courier despatch in most

cities. We promised prompt answers to your queries, and to mirror them at our

Website. We promised one more Linux distribution after June. We promised you a

bigger, better products annual, which would also be available on the Web. We

promised to have a more transparent User’s Choice awards process. We promised

you a good December 2000 issue and, finally, we promised you a whole host of

goodies, beyond CDs. It’s time to face up.

We traveled to six cities–Trivandrum, Cochin, Bangalore,

Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Chandigadh–and held technology seminars and interacted

with PCQ readers there.

Subscriber copies to 776 pin codes (postal areas) are now

delivered by courier. While we have drastically improved the response time to

reader queries, we have not been able to mirror the queries to www.pcquest.com.

On the Linux front, we were not able to deliver on our

promise to have one more distribution.

The PCQ products annual this year was the thickest issue of

PCQ ever, and even as I write this, the database is up on the Web. The Users

Choice survey this year was conducted by IMRB, an independent research agency,

following internationally accepted methodologies. The feedback we are receiving

about the December issue, including stockout reports from various cities,

indicate that we have delivered on that promise. As for the goodies, from IT

scholarships to the seven mega-contests in December, we did have quite a lot

going.

In the final analysis, out of ten promises made, we failed to

deliver on two. Is that good enough? Or, is that unpardonable? I will look

forward to hearing your verdict.

Meanwhile, I will also take this opportunity to share with

you some of the plans we have for the coming months. More promises, if you will.

Most important on our agenda is a complete redesign of the

magazine. This is being done after taking extensive feedback from you. we expect

to have this implemented by March 20001.

Simultaneously, we are adding new sections. Starting with

this issue, you’ll see more product coverage. Starting next month, we will

have a regular server section, taking you through server technologies, server

management, and even telling you how to assemble your own server. As recommended

by our reader Naveen Gupta from Chandigarh, we will also start a regular section

on computer-communication convergence.

Our regular coverage of Linux will continue. We have been

receiving requests to have a regular section for Mac enthusiasts. We would like

to hear from you before we decide.

Subscribers should soon be able to track subscription

de-tails at our website and get e-mailed information on stories in the current

issue. Simultaneously, we are also trying to cover more cities under courier

service, and ensure that the magazine reaches you earlier.

We will definitely meet you face to face in more cities, and

understand better, what you want from us. And, finally, I would like to hear

from you, what else you’d like us to do for you. We hope you have a great new

year.

Krishna Kumar