[Richard T. Eger]

Good grief guys,

You all attacking Jukka are taking yourselves way too seriously and, I'm afraid, acting a bit absurd.

Like Jukka, I prefer glossy over matte and, also like Jukka, have decried the quality of Classic printing, but, no one seemed to listen, so I didn't see the point of publicly harping on it. But, we all know that the squeaky wheel is the one that gets oiled and, if enough Jukka's say that they want better quality, they might eventually be heard. Or, maybe it is competition from the Far East, which has been ahead of the rest of the world for ages. Just think Monogram. So, why, after all this time, did Ian Allan recently install a world class printing press?

Ruy, you missed Jukka's point about fewer pages. He wasn't saying cut the content, but rather cut the blank space so that more is printed on each page and thus fewer pages are needed. Classic does use a rather large amount of blank space.

John, so he pokes fun a bit at the British. Get a life!! We here in the Colonies can take a bit of ribbing, too.

And, John, your demand for literally how much the publisher spends on toilet paper is ridiculous. It is a straight paper cost comparison. Oh, maybe glossy paper might absorb a different amount of ink, so ink cost might be slightly affected. But anything else is a constant and thus irrelevant to cost differential determination, assuming that one doesn't have to purchase a new press to make it happen.

Franek, you seem to be inferring that, if a publisher does publish on glossy paper, he will only produce a photo album and that text = knowledge will simply shrivel away to nothingness. Pooh! If you would like to break your toe with a glossy book with a huge amount of text, just drop the English language version Schiffer book, Willy Messerschmitt: Pioneer of Aviation Design, from your desktop, aiming carefully. This monster runs 435 pages and is enormously heavy. When new in 1999, it was going for $49.95.

Now, Franek, it isn't unreasonable for a publisher to want to use high end printing where it will do the most good, i.e., with photos. So, yes, you are right that that is where a lot of emphasis will be placed. Franek and Ruy, take a look at Donald Nijboer's Cockpit: An Illustrated History of World War II Aircraft Interiors or Melvyn Hiscock's Hawker Hurricane: Inside and Out, then compare what you see in matte printing and let me know which one you think is better.

I guess I'm an equal opportunity offender, but, guys, don't act so darned defensively. Jukka has a valid point and should be respected for it, not ridiculed, as has happened here.

Regards,
Richard