Are magazines archaic?

A couple of the magazines for which I have had subscriptions for many years have gone bye-bye. Gourmet :wave:. Southern Accents :wave:. Newsweek is getting skinnier by the week. Can't decide about Southern Living. They have so many references to their online info.:idontno:

Excuse me, but I can't get Internet connections in south Alabama and north Florida when I'm a passenger in our vehicle on the way to/from the beach. Reading a magazine is independent of Internet access. Plus if I accidentally drop a magazine into a pool, it doesn't cost as much as dropping an electronic device into a pool.

Should I/we just stop subscribing to magazines? It *is* greener. But somehow I just find it more tangibly satisfying to flip through the pages of a magazine than going online.

:idontno:
Where's my cane? LOL.

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Agree, although I read online a lot - much more than I ever thought I would. There's something about the look of hard copy also that is often more pleasing than online.

Newsweek is merging with the Daily Beast: Newsweek-Daily Beast deal imminent - On Media - POLITICO.com


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Agree, although I read online a lot - much more than I ever thought I would. There's something about the look of hard copy also that is often more pleasing than online.

Newsweek is merging with the Daily Beast: Newsweek-Daily Beast deal imminent - On Media - POLITICO.com


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So I've heard. My favorite column in Newsweek is "Conventional Wisdom."

I saw the best answer to that question in a magazine the other day. (I'll look for it and post)

something to the effect that "instant coffee did not cause coffee to become archaic--and the Internet won't cause magazines to..."

I love finding information quickly on the Internet, and I do enjoy the Kindle more than I thought I would; but, I'm with you, there is just something more when you pick up a great magazine to read....

...there is just something more when you pick up a great magazine to read....

Our household has been a regular subscriber to Coastal Living in print. Received the latest copy in the mail last week, only to realize that it was the thinnest issue they've put out in 2010..

...and it looks like they're now on their third editor within the past 12 months...

Sad to see a long-time favorite suffering :idontno:

It's hard times for "traditional" media in general. Books, CDs, magazines, newspapers.

My worries are two:
1-Are we becoming more dependent on visual sources, i.e. TV? If so, our information and resulting knowledge will be less comprehensive. Not to mention coming from fewer sources.
2-Permanance and ownership are both less sure with digital. If you buy a book/CD/magazine, you have it. Can you be sure you will still have access to today's digital download 10 years from now?

our news and fashion ALREADY comes from fewer sources because many of these magazines are owned by the same publisher. They are chopping the less profitable mags, and most are going to online publications which are much cheaper to "publish and distribute," and they can track their customers' clicks on adds. Target ads also pay more, and the distribution can be much higher, online. Look at my favorite mag, Garden and Gun. Great magazine, easy to read through and great photos. Each story in the printed version makes me want to read it. That is a rare quality in magazines. They also have an online magazine, but it has a very different feel. In addition to that, they have started blogs within the magazine, and they have a facebook page.

Media is changing rapidly and we "ain't seen nothin' yet." As the pipeline (bandwidth) gets wider and faster, we will be seeing more video media and less static print.

I grew up in a family which received numerous magazines and we saved every issue of every magazine for whatever reason. I really don't want that myself, so I don't subscribe. I want to simplify, and for me, that means having access (online, or on computer file) to archives, but not having to store the physical magazines.

TreeFrog brings up a good point about the potential for all digital information to disappear, but if that happens, we won't likely have banking info retained either, and therefore, the world as we know won't be the same. You will care more about having canned tuna to eat rather than the Homes and Lifestyles issue from Oct 2011.

This print magazine shift has been continuing for many years. When was it that AOL and Time Warner merged? They knew that print was going away and that online media was the future as it was the only way to save $$$$$ on cost.

I hear what you're saying, SJ. But I don't like extended reading from electronic media, especially textbooks. When I teach out of a new text, I get the ebook for classroom projection of images, etc. But I also get a hardcopy of the book. I like underlining important info and handwriting my personal notes in the margins. I learn the material better (yes, most of what I teach didn't exist five years ago) so that I can be better prepared for class.

BTW we received free copies of Garden and Guns for a while. I don't get it. :idontno::lol:

I find that for many magazines it is sort of a "chicken/egg" situation - did readership decline because the magazine declined or did the magazine decline because the readership declined and costs got cut?

There are some classics that I will always subscribe to - Smithsonian, National Geographic - but many others I stopped subscribing to because I don't like them as much. And I don't keep the back issues - if I find something interesting I tear it out and keep that.

Bon Appetit and the Walton Sun are 2 recent examples where I decided I would rather have the trees than read them.

I find that for many magazines it is sort of a "chicken/egg" situation - did readership decline because the magazine declined or did the magazine decline because the readership declined and costs got cut?

There are some classics that I will always subscribe to - Smithsonian, National Geographic - but many others I stopped subscribing to because I don't like them as much. And I don't keep the back issues - if I find something interesting I tear it out and keep that.

Bon Appetit and the Walton Sun are 2 recent examples where I decided I would rather have the trees than read them.

I hear ya on the newspapers. I was sad when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution stopped delivering here and we had to go electronic. But now I love it because (a) the AJC is mostly ads, and (b) I don't have to go to the recycling center as frequently because I no longer receive huge stacks of newspapers every week.

As far as recipes go, I'd just as soon go to smittenkitchen or Food Network online.

Magazines are OK but magazine subscriptions are out. I buy an occasional copy of something at the news stand.

I'm going to confess that I frequently read in the bathroom, and I'd rather drop the latest paper copy of The Economist, Monocle, or Entertainment Weekly in a full bathtub than do the same with an electronic device.

I also really prefer the paper versions of shelter magazines to the electronic version because I feel like the lovely pictures look so much better on paper.

Magazines & Newspapers are going away because they're losing advertising $$$. The $12.00 per year subscription specials that they push out the door wouldn't keep the lights on, let alone pay for the different colored ink and distribution costs.

Businesses across the nation decided it's cheaper to put a million annoying pop-up ads on-line than to pay the papers 10s of thou$ands for 1/2 page ads; Realtors now rely on websites, signs and balloons to advertise homes for sale; Joe Six-pack advertises his treadmill on Craigslist or Ebay....all this creates that sucking sound of advertising dollars flowing out of print and into digital media (or latex futures in the the case of Realtors).

I like "real" magazines and newspapers...marketing execs don't, but in the end, their money will speak louder than mine.

I feel like a walking Best Buy store when I board an airplane. On a plane, it's a relief to pull out a magazine or book and read it, not worry about spilling a drink on it, and just jam it in the seatback pocket when you get up to go pee.

And about my previous concern about the permanence of downloaded digital media, that same general concept extends further two other ways now that I think of it.

1-There was once a very nice interview of me on a web site. 10 years ago. Gone now.
2-So you buy a Kindle/Nook/iPad or whatever. Over time, the market gravitates to something else and your device goes away, perhaps also your ability migrate your content to the latest device. Even today, I wouldn't buy a Nook - the survival of B&N is in no way assured.

And furthermore...

There's something satisfying about standing in front of a shelf of your books and pulling out one to reread part or all of it. Browsing just isn't the same on your iPad or PC.

TreeFrog brings up a good point about the potential for all digital information to disappear

Not "all", just "yours". I'm mainly concerned about how you back up all the books/magazines/music on your iPad, and whether the file formats will still be accessible in 10-20-30 years. Leaving the apocalyptic vision to others...

Not "all", just "yours". I'm mainly concerned about how you back up all the books/magazines/music on your iPad, and whether the file formats will still be accessible in 10-20-30 years. Leaving the apocalyptic vision to others...

...and will future generations understand the irony portrayed in that classic Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last" when uber-bookworm Henry Bemis finds himself, the only survivor on earth after a nuclear war, surrounded by all the books in the world but unable to read them because his glasses got broken?

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I was in a fashion shoot for next Thanksgivings Better Homes and Garden mag next year and we spent more time on their video shoots then still photos. They say they are launching an IPad version next year. Considering they are one of the largest circulation mags, I would say that hard copies will have a niche, but they recognize the need for interactivity.

I was in a fashion shoot for next Thanksgivings Better Homes and Garden mag next year and we spent more time on their video shoots then still photos. They say they are launching an IPad version next year. Considering they are one of the largest circulation mags, I would say that hard copies will have a niche, but they recognize the need for interactivity.

can't wait to see the shoot! you got a new career now?:wave:

I do love a magazine but no longer subscribing to many. Garden & Gun is a fresh magazine with good coverage, good writing, updated/modern look, etc. on the other hand, I think some mags are petering out because they have had their day. For example, Southern Living just doesn't do it for me anymore.

I just can't read that much online at my computer - drives me crazy. Not ready for a nook - it seems too trendy - not really long term.

Is the ipad just the thing? I think I could get used to reading most things on a good hand held device that you know is going to have staying power.

will always love my real books!

can't wait to see the shoot! you got a new career now?:wave:

I do love a magazine but no longer subscribing to many. Garden & Gun is a fresh magazine with good coverage, good writing, updated/modern look, etc. on the other hand, I think some mags are petering out because they have had their day. For example, Southern Living just doesn't do it for me anymore.

I just can't read that much online at my computer - drives me crazy. Not ready for a nook - it seems too trendy - not really long term.

Is the ipad just the thing? I think I could get used to reading most things on a good hand held device that you know is going to have staying power.

will always love my real books!

:wave:No, just live in a photogenic neighborhood where they needed some peeps. LP and I had three daughters for the shoot, but were able to give them back at the end of the day- just the way I like it.;-)

I think the Ipad will continue to become more mainstream as they increase the ability to "work" on them. They just updated the OS and I believe apps are being written now that will allow users to work on MS Office programs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/business/media/29mag.html?_r=1&hp

seems as though lots of people are asking this question...many changes in the magazine world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/business/media/29mag.html?_r=1&hp

seems as though lots of people are asking this question...many changes in the magazine world.

I feel the same about printed media as many folks now feel about landlines. While a cell phone is not a 100% functionally complete replacement for a wireline phone, its good enough and also has features a landline doesn't. Online media is like that. Writing notes on the pages, dog-earing corners, etc.. doesn't work (or doesn't work the same way) but you do gain video, audio, etc.. All that being said, anytime you find a page/article you really want to keep, be sure and print it to PDF and store it somewhere. It won't last forever and you can't just toss it in a box in the attic for future use.

I punted on subscriptions (newspaper and magazines) about 7-8 years ago when web content became full-featured enough to be useful.

I am pretty much, however, not willing to pay for most premium reading content on the web so I am sure I'm missing some good stuff.

The only model that would work for me would be one where I could pay a tiny bit occasionally for compelling content I really wanted to read. I would also love to have this model for access to an archive that OCRd/indexed copies of most US periodicals from the 30's through now. I wish someone would get busy with that.