I skim both almanac products each year. Both have helpful little home tips and quite a bit of gardening advice. Sad to see them go.
Should have paid the $9 instead of just skimming...
A Fond Farewell
131–140 of 225 posts
Re: A Fond Farewell
#132This press release has a bit more explanation: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/end-of-an-era-farmers-almanac... > This decision, though difficult, reflects the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the Almanac in today’s chaotic media environment.
Hardly an explanation, what is meant by chaotic media environment?
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Re: A Fond Farewell
#133Huh, this always seemed like such an institution it never occurred to me that people have to produce Farmers' Almanac. Which of course they do. Didn't have this on my bingo card today, makes me a little sad.
The brand has 200 years of value. They could easily sell it. It’s a respectable decision to shut it down instead.
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Re: A Fond Farewell
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think they simply don't know what to do next. In the past century, you could write a book with good content, put it on a shelf, and people would pay money for it. Then at some point, book stores stopped existing. Some turned into gift stores where the book was some decoration you'd put on the shelf to add aesthetic to the room. So a lot of things went digital. But nobody wants to pay for digital information. You'd…
Book stores did not stop existing. They are everywhere. Book sales are up in recent times.
They didn't, you're right, but book stores themselves are on the decline [1]. Borders brick and mortar footprint is gone in the U.S. and they used to be the #2 bookseller. Barnes and Noble is holding on, thankfully. I love physical books and just the quiet ambience of a good bookstore.
[1] https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/12/do-not-turn-t...
Re: A Fond Farewell
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other side of the pond there are more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Moore%27s_Almanack in England published since 1697 and a similarly named one (without the k) in Ireland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Moore%27s_Almanac since 1764
In Italy, where I grew up, my grandparents used to read the Almanacco di Barbanera; the first edition came out in 1762. It is still around https://www.barbanera.it/
barbanera = black beard
Re: A Fond Farewell
#136This press release has a bit more explanation: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/end-of-an-era-farmers-almanac... > This decision, though difficult, reflects the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the Almanac in today’s chaotic media environment.
Hardly an explanation, what is meant by chaotic media environment?
>what is meant by chaotic media environment?
it means that the almanac does not bring in enough profit to make it worthwhile to continue or to find a buyer for the company, and the owners are also aware that many of the same profit related issues are in the public discourse as affecting (formerly-)print media in the now-digital market, so the owners conclude that their financial are part of the general trend in the industry rather than to specific problems with the business formula they have used for over 200 years.
Re: A Fond Farewell
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 01852, 173 years ago That's some serious forward thinking you've got going on with your date format there. I like it, I will be formatting all my years to 5 digits from now on. OTOH, if it was just a typo - keep it to yourself, I don't wanna know. I'm all in - 5 digit years is a thing now.
> I like it, I will be formatting all my years to 5 digits from now on. Please don't, it's highly irritating and usually just serves as a way to get people to discuss the leading zero rather than the subject they were really interested in in the first place. Leading zeros aren't a thing for a reason. It's about as useful as expressing the temperature in Kelvin.
It’s big “look at me” energy, coupled with that user citing years way more often than most.
Some person: I like yams.
Person in question: Me too, since I had my first one in 01985 or so.
Re: A Fond Farewell
#138In the early 1990's, during my days as a Comp. Sci. prof, I was so excited about the emergence of the internet. When I saw the Mosaic browser (a precursor to Netscape and later Firefox) I knew the world had changed for the better. Now I have such mixed feelings. Magazines (like the Farmers Almanac) either go online completely or just disappear. They just cannot compete for advertising dollars with Google. And small family run local retail stores, offering not just goods, but a social hub for people are shutting their doors because how can they compete with the convenience of Amazon. Much has been gained from the internet, and much has been lost.
Re: A Fond Farewell
#139In the early 1990's, during my days as a Comp. Sci. prof, I was so excited about the emergence of the internet. When I saw the Mosaic browser (a precursor to Netscape and later Firefox) I knew the world had changed for the better. Now I have such mixed feelings. Magazines (like the Farmers Almanac) either go online completely or just disappear. They just cannot compete for advertising dollars with Google. And small f…
The aspect of small local stores functioning as a social hub really hits hard. The social hub, such as it is now, can be so much larger and less personal that it really does feel like a loss (a negative even).
Is the social hub now something like Instagram or a specific forum/subreddit/space for a school or neighborhood? These are really insufficient replacements and people that grew up knowing nothing else likely do not realize just how insufficient they are.
Re: A Fond Farewell
#140There is still the Old Farmer’s Almanac https://www.almanac.com/old-farmers-almanac-233-years-and-st...
Oh, I thought this was the one that was closing down!
Which really surprised me. Ben Franklin's version is a really strong brand so it makes sense it's some other Farmer's Almanac that's shutting down.