| | | Neil McIntosh | | Editor of The Scotsman |
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Hello Voornaam, There was no pause for breath at Scotsman HQ after the excitement of launching our new website last week. I'm very happy to tell you that we followed it up with, this week, a brand-new app for your smartphone. The Scotsman's new app - available from the Apple and Android app stores - echos our work to make the website more attractive, easier to use, and more fully-featured. As a digital subscriber, you'll have full access as part of your package.
You'll recognise the distinctive Scotsman design the moment you launch it, and all your Scotsman favourites - from news updates to columnists, food to fashion - are available to browse. And if you currently use our app to read the newspaper as it's printed, you'll find that feature is still available at the heart of the new app. For both the new site and the new app, what excites me most is the ability to continue to improve. We'll continue to use your feedback to make the experience better, and an even more central part of your life. Away from all that, the day the new website went live I was off to the Royal Highland Show next to Edinburgh airport, where The Scotsman was media partner.
Opening to a gloriously sunny day, the bustling Ingliston showgrounds made for an uplifting sight: Scotland's rural and agricultural communities coming together to trade, talk and - judging by the extensive social programme - have a good time. The show drew more than 200,000 people in its four days; it was wonderful to see it back at full scale once more. As Rural Affairs correspondent Katherine Hay pointed out in one of her reports from the site, it was still a somewhat bittersweet occasion for the country's agricultural community. They'd hoped for more from the Scottish Government on what will be replacing the EU subsidy scheme, which runs out next year, and there was the sense that life can still be very tough for parts of that community, despite the show's return to robust health.
Another part of the rural economy got some better news yesterday, however, with the news that plans for controversial Highly Protected Marine Areas were not going to go ahead as planned. Opponents said they would devastate the economy of any number of coastal communities and, given the anger in those communities, the news the proposals are going back to the drawing board will be celebrated - if only tentatively. Tomorrow's Scotsman, online and in print, will have all the usual attractions of the Saturday package, including Jim Gilchrist on the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival - the first of Edinburgh's festivals this summer, all of which will ensure the buzz of activity around The Scotsman continues unabated deep into the summer. However hard you're working (or not) this weekend, I hope you have a great couple of days. Best wishes, Neil McIntosh Editor, The Scotsman | 