Some plugs

Electric Nose waxes lyrical about the merits of Rail Express, and reminds us to attend the DEMU showcase exhibition in two weeks time. It's high time I attended this one, even though I've always found Burton on Trent an awkward place to get to.

I'm sure the plug for Rail Express has nothing to do with the plug for Electric Nose in the latest issue's editorial from Gareth Bayer, which rips into the anti-internet attitude of the more established railway modelling magazines.

Both the editorials [of other magazines] direct fire at the Internet in general and specifically at those who contribute to Internet forums such as Yahoo! The feeling is that the 'net is home to barely educated 'extremists' and 'zealots' who don't care about commercial realities, bully those who have unbiased and reasonably opinions, and are generally just a whole bunch of rotters who don't play fair.

He goes on to compare the critical stance taken by some 'internet zealots' with the line taken by other magazines where objective reviews take second place to protecting advertising revenue. One post on the Demodellers list has even compared them with the music press, hardly paragons of unbiased objectivity.

Freedom of speech on the Internet has changed all this, and the old guard don't like it. But just like sections of the music industry, they'll just have to adapt or die. It's not the 1970s any more.