Knives Annual...

Matthew Gregory said:
I’d be interested to hear how many folks interact with younger people, specifically 22-year-olds and younger, to determine just how much print this age group exposes themselves to.
Click to expand...
One example, my son is 26 years old, I don't remember the last time I saw him flipping through a Blade magazine or Knives annual. He is a knife maker and has been around these publications his whole life. He thinks its cool when one of his knives is published, but only looks if I show him. Just a sign of the times.
 
i4Marc said:
Maybe Dr. David Darom would be interested in picking up the annual?
Click to expand...

Likely NOT AT ALL.

He just turned 75 and put out a tremendous amount of books in a fairly short period of time.

History will judge him kindly and with reverence.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I wondered why I'd not had the letter this year.

Very sad news, but as already stated, it's an unfortunate sign of the times.

I've always loved books. I'm pretty sure I've had a book on the go since 'The Elves and The Shoemaker'.
I always read at work during dinner time (half way through Das Boot for the third or forth time at the moment!), but most people treat you as if you're a time traveller from 1846 when you pull out a book.

More people than you can imagine have never read a book since school.

Everyone sits glued to their phones checking some form of social media.

People can now follow a knifemaker on social media and get a constant update on not only his/her work, but on their day to day lives as well.

The internet has created a world where we need everything instantly, and a need for constant updates. Books are too slow. Not up to date enough.

When I bought my first Knives book in 1987, it was from a local newsagent. It would probably be pulled from the shelves today, due to someone being 'offended' or 'outraged' by it. Accusing it of 'glorifying a culture of violence' or some other nonsense.

There was an article about Bob Loveless and it fascinated me. I spent hours looking through that book (which is on the bookshelf in front of me looking very battered and heavily repaired with sellotape) wondering how such superb knives could be made by hand.

Fast forward 26 years and I'm looking in the 'Channeling Loveless' section of Knives 2013 at something I made.
I cringe at the actual knife now, as I can see a lot of mistakes, but it's still my proudest achievement with regards to knives.

Anyway...enough of my ramblings, I'm off to have a flick through Knives '87. :(

Ian.
 
We own lots of books....none of them require batteries...we,ll keep them......and we use the library across the street regularly....
 
Thanks for posting this, Matt.

Another era is ending. Sad for old guys like many of us - for more than one reason. Probably the same way a lot of old guys felt when they shuttered True Detective magazine more than 20 years ago.

Libraries . . . how often did we even really go 30 or 40 years ago? But I **did** buy and read print media for decades. Always got the local morning AND evening paper. Sports Illustrated for years. Reader's Digest. Time. Street & Smith and other college football annuals. Paperback books.

Not anymore.

Print media is definitely on life support. Will it die completely, or will a shell remain? I have tried to give away many books in perfect condition to my local library and they have zero interest.

Personally, the ONLY print media I have purchased in the past several years was Blade, the Knives Annual, and a few specialty books about knives. Everything else is web based.

And realistically . . . how much longer will Blade and the Blade Show survive? Sure, they look good for now. But with the growth of the Internet, neither one really serves the same purposes they did even 15 years ago. Both better cater to and cultivate a young audience if they want to survive.
 
I am so sad to hear this.
I too have every annual issue. In the days before the net the annuals served as a link for those of us who live outside of the US and could not visit US shows. Even today getting a knife published in it is such a privilege.
 
Used to be people who were too lazy to read magazines flipped through them just for the pics. Nowadays, they’re too lazy for even that. It’s a smartphone, instant gratification and incredibly lazy world we find ourselves in. And I’m guilty of it too. But as was said, adapt or die.
 
I wonder... there was a guy who came to the Guild show, then to ICCE, who walked around with an annual getting makers to sign their pictures. That was a cool tradition, now gone.
 
I was just thrilled to have earned a place on the back row of those shows, and it was quite flattering to have a guy ask for my autograph. The 2013 annual was the first time I met the guy, and also I think the first time I had a knife in the book. It was a cool experience.
 
Russ Andrews said:
We own lots of books....none of them require batteries...we,ll keep them......and we use the library across the street regularly....
Click to expand...

For my daughter's generation, libraries are strictly social gathering points. She even complains about having to haul books around high school - "why can't we just download the course material on line?". Different world my friend.

I'm going to miss those annuals.
 
Don Hanson III said:
OK Tactical knives was a different publisher. I used to know all this, but have forgot most of what I knew.
Click to expand...

I hear that is what happens when you get old. :D

RogerP said:
For my daughter's generation, libraries are strictly social gathering points. She even complains about having to haul books around high school - "why can't we just download the course material on line?". Different world my friend.

I'm going to miss those annuals.
Click to expand...


My better half works in the library system. So I have to agree, a lot of people simply come for the wifi.

However, I don't believe print is dead or dying. I do think it is survival of the fittest. Too many people like having physical things in their hands. The smart companies are using the internet to their benefit. The ones that refuse to grow and expand, will die. There are a good amount of magazines and book publishers that are using it very well.

But I'm also naive and overwhelmingly optimistic, so there is that. lol
 
I agree, for the most part, Logan. One of my points above was that a book that was also available in a digital format might possibly breathe life into a book such as Knives Annual, without a massive investment on behalf of the publisher. Absolutely agree that it will be survival of the fittest, but I also wonder if the age bracket that does value ‘hands on’ is waning...


Logan Pearce said:
However, I don't believe print is dead or dying. I do think it is survival of the fittest. Too many people like having physical things in their hands. The smart companies are using the internet to their benefit. The ones that refuse to grow and expand, will die. There are a good amount of magazines and book publishers that are using it very well.

But I'm also naive and overwhelmingly optimistic, so there is that. lol
Click to expand...
 
I would tend to disagree that print is dead based on the pile of receipts and bills I have every month. :mad:
 
i4Marc said:
I would tend to disagree that print is dead based on the pile of receipts and bills I have every month. :mad:
Click to expand...
Al my bills are electronic, retrieved on-line. Except for two dinosaur companies, I receive and pay all my bills on-line. Receipts mostly, and more-and-more, are electronic too. Home Depot has been e-mailing receipts for years. My grocer switched over a while ago. But 90% of everything I buy except groceries was already on-line. Very little paper (except junk mail) any more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top