SACM Broadband Article

rpm

Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
66,806
Reaction score
5,057
Location
Johannesburg
Hi folks

This month’s SACM has an analysis of iBurst, ADSL and MyWireless. While it all looks nice and the article is not badly written, the stats are certainly not of a high calibre. Here are the average download speeds from the article:

ADSL: 667 kbps
iBurst: 729 kbps
MyWireless: 463 kbps

I am uncertain where they got their stats from, but one has to wonder whether they simply want to make these companies look good to ensure possible advertising. The accuracy of these stats is definitely very dubious and it is regrettable that a magazine like SACM will publish it…

Regards,

RPM
 
It has been some time since I bought SA Computer or even PC Format for that matter.
However, I actually bought a PC Format this evening for my Nephew and perhaps I might take a look see. The Motherboard reviews will be interesting although I noticed they reviewed the wrong MSI motherboard IMO. They should have rather chosen the MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum. But glad to see some other brands reviewed besides Gigabyte for a change.
What I hated about PC Format before was the replies to the letters in the older editions. Sometimes they would really pull the mickey out of some poor soul that probably knows nothing about computers and in the end once they took the mickey out the fellow, they still didn't answer his question satisfactorily anyway.
I see the new Lady Editor has changed that.
Maybe I have outgrown these magazines. The content doesn't appeal to me anymore.
I prefer to read my reviews online anyway.
 
Eish! Are there any decent computer mags in SA at the moment? You know... one for the geeks...
 
rpm said:
Hi folks

This month’s SACM has an analysis of iBurst, ADSL and MyWireless. While it all looks nice and the article is not badly written, the stats are certainly not of a high calibre. Here are the average download speeds from the article:

ADSL: 667 kbps
iBurst: 729 kbps
MyWireless: 463 kbps

I am uncertain where they got their stats from, but one has to wonder whether they simply want to make these companies look good to ensure possible advertising. The accuracy of these stats is definitely very dubious and it is regrettable that a magazine like SACM will publish it…

Regards,

RPM


I'll ask Regardt when I see him at the office today. I can assure you the results aren't influenced by advertising, since as writers we have no knowledge of what advertising we're getting and how much is being paid for it, the senior editor handles all that.

SACM was dead, that's why we bought it back in Febuary and remade it.
 
I have fond attachments to SACM. I have been buying the magazine since April '94. My so called self taught IT skills are a direct result of what i learned from this magazine. I have not baught the mag for a while though, i guess its tough competing with RSS.
 
qDot said:
I have fond attachments to SACM. I have been buying the magazine since April '94. My so called self taught IT skills are a direct result of what i learned from this magazine. I have not baught the mag for a while though, i guess its tough competing with RSS.

Virtually none of the original SACM staff remains, they all left when the magazine was sold. NAG's staff now produces both magazines. I write many of SACM's features. You can guess which one I'm currently writing for September's issue based on the recent news.
 
The results are wrong.

Just got feedback on the numbers, here's what's in my inbox:

That value is wrong,

It should have been 467.1kpbs

I can't believe that slipped passed me,

We will publish somtething in the next issue.


Regardt van der Berg
[Senior Technical Writer]
NAG Magazine
SA Computer Magazine
 
TheRoDent said:
SACM, and PC Format are dead.

Couldn't agree more.

.net or netplus or whatever it's called is also a waste of paper.
Got one the other day and realised I'm so far past what they are punting, it's not even true.

Half the news is old news - got it on the web already.
Half the tutorials are available in many different formats online, complete with forum support.

I suppose if you live in the middle of nowhere with a 28.8 dialup, or iBurst, it may come in useful - possibly as a door stop or something.
 
Gldm, are you guys feeling threatened by the web ? particularly with the kind of content that you guys cover ?
 
qDot said:
Gldm, are you guys feeling threatened by the web ? particularly with the kind of content that you guys cover ?

No, not really. Only a small portion of the magazine is news, alot of it is features, which are unique and not something you'll find on the web very often. Take my Survival Guide to the Internet (july + august), aimed at novice users. Find that on the web, or the Adventures of Open Source Man (august), or my RAID feature ealier in the year. Those are things you don't find sitting around every hardware and new site, at least I haven't seen ones of the same quality.
 
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X