Magazine and leaving EAA, unfortunately...

[Robski]

Hi all.

I have tried to get somewhere with the powers that be, but got nowhere with wait-and-see replies, assuming my emails don't just get bounced.
Therefore I will try to get somewhere more publicly on the forum.

I live in the UK.
I joined the EAA last October, mainly as I wanted to go to Oshkosh so needed membership for a weekly ticket, but also to find out more about the EAA to get more out of my trip.
Went to Oshkosh. Had an absolutely fantastic time.

Because I live in the UK I thought I would save paper and postage and opt for the electronic version of the magazine.
The mag started to be 'delivered' in the version 'powered by MAZ'. I would download this to my 10" Android tablet and read it at my leisure. It's a really good read.
Then February came. The EAA changed publisher. For the first month or two THERE WASN'T EVEN AN ANDROID VERSION TO BE HAD. I was told to wait a month or two and try again! Sheesh!
After a couple of months I tried again. The new reader installs! Woo hoo! 3 copies of Sport Aviation goodness to catch up on! Or not!

The new electronic version seems to require a Gigabit Internet connection to work as it seems to download each page on demand, and this takes simply ages, and that's assuming the server at the other end is even up! The 'download the full copy' option just sits there and does nothing, saying that the mag edition is tagged for download but never, ever actually does anything!

OK, I live in a poor internet service area, but it is about the same speed as my friends' place in Mokeleumne Hill, CA, where I was visiting last week. Couldn't download it there either.

I have tried the PC version but that is of little use of a 15" or even 17" slaptop screen as it has to be in landscape mode and when 2 pages are displayed the font is waaaaay too small to be readable. OK there is the PDF option which does work, but reading a magazine on a PC really sucks anyway.

As I am in the UK I don't really get much for my EAA membership other than the magazine (or not), some webinars (but not live as they are at 2.00 in the morning here - I can live with that), and some handy hints that are good but which I have now largely completed. The Sport Aviation mag was making the $40 membership worthwhile to start with but I effectively don't get it now.

So.
Here I am with a 2018/2019 dues letter for 40 bucks in my hand.
Unless anybody can tell me what I am doing wrong, or the EAA look into making the mag work properly for Android users / low bandwidth users then I am afraid this will have to be goodbye.

This really does make me sad.
Annoyed as well, as for over half my membership I have effectively received nothing due to 'progress' wrecking a perfectly acceptable delivery mechanism.

P.S.
I did try to take this up face to face with EAA personnel at Oshkosh but got told there was nothing they could do and to email in with my issue. As I said above I have never got anywhere with that!
I guess they all get the printed copy! Lucky them!