Magazines - Outdated?

[Guy]

There has been an arguement going round the office this afternoon, are magazines old and outdated, and relics of the last century?

I'll agree that I no longer by Pc/Computer related magazines as all of the info is available on the web for free, and in real time. But taking out CustomPc and the odd PcPro here and there, it still seems that I spend quite alot each month on glossy bits of paper!

My list consists of:

Topgear
Banzai
Jap Performance
Total Nissan
Wired
FHM

So how many of you still regularly buy magazines?

[Funkstar]

I regularly (but not religiously) buy:

Amateur Photographer
Auto Express
Wired
New Scientist

There are times when magazines are more useful than the internet, and often a lot more in deapth. I tend to read things in magazines I wouldn't bother if they published online simply because it is in front of me there and then.

[Eakere]

I rarely read any magazines, until lately when a friend has bought a sub to Wired so i've started reading that. It's interesting and everything, but if it's news you're after then the internet is a much quicker medium to read it through.

[zulander]

used to buy PC Gamer a lot and when the SNES etc were all the rage which ever magazines were out like Super Play and stuff. I dont buy em now usually cause they cost so much and i dont find the time like i used to. That said i hate the way most online game sites are laid out - usually far too much going on

[Stringent]

I started a thread about this recently, more specifically gaming mags. I don't now regularly buy anything. Only if there is an interesting article.

[Guy]

This is the thing, I dont want to spend my life glued to a computer, and there are just times when I went to relax on the sofa flicking through a magazine, or read one whilst im on the train.

[Knoxville]

I still buy the odd music magazine guitar world/terrorizer/metal hammer and I've got a subscription to evo I've been meaning to cancel for ages now. PC and gaming related magazines are on the way out in my opinion it's already started happening in the states with magazines like egm going under.

[Virtual Monkey]

It depends on what you want - if it's just news, or gaming reviews, then the internet is way more superior since it's updated far more and can contain video footage/interactive content etc.

There's a lot of really good journalism in magazines though. I always find the big investigative style articles in Wired really interesting, and always enjoyed the pieces about old games or different aspects of game development in Edge. I think those sorts of stories still have a quality of journalism that it's still quite hard to find on the internet.

Having said that, a lot of magazines tend to have online blogs anyway. Most of the stories are published, with only the most interesting saved for the actual print edition. I've noticed this a lot with Creative Review (graphic design mag) especially.

[Saracen]

There is a definite trend away from print media, be it magazine or newspaper, towards online media. It has been going on for several years, and is now at the stage where it is causing severe problems for some publications, to the point where advertising revenues have shrunk so much that publications are either having to radically restructure or are going/have gone out of business.

Business models are certainly having to change, but it might be a bit previous to regard print media as entirely outdated.

Yes, I still buy magazines .... but not on a regular basis and certainly not on subscription, unless an astonishingly good deal is offered. But like some others have saifd, I don't want to spend my life stuck in front of a computer screen. It's nice to be able to read on the train, in the bath, or sitting in the garden with a magazine and a cool drink, soaking up the suin and birdsong ...... without a laptop cooling fan humming away.

So I buy whatever appeals to me. Recently, tyhat's included a few editions of the Telegraph (MP expenses revelations), New Scientist, Scientific American, National Geographic, The Economist, the occasional computer mag and, regularly, one or another of several photography mags.

So "outdated"? Probably, at least to an extent. Dead and buried? I hope to hell not.

Oh, and let's not forget, not everybody either is online at all, or wants to spend any time in front of a computer that they don't absolutely have to. I know a fair few people in that category.

[Funkstar]

I think the computer mags and newspapers will find it more difficult than more specialist magazines (no, not those, but actually yes, those as well) those are the big subjects online.

Yes there are loads of car and photography forums and news sites, there are far more of their readers that aren't online all the time. And for the speciality car magazines, MaxPower for example, I certainly don't know of any online sources of articles featuring readers cars with professionally taken photos and proper editorial.

There is also the ability to sit with a magazine and traul though the adverts by multiple suppliers all in one place. Great for car parts or camera lenses

[samcross]

This is the thing, I dont want to spend my life glued to a computer, and there are just times when I went to relax on the sofa flicking through a magazine, or read one whilst im on the train.

This
tbh after spending most of the day sat at a computer, its nice to be able to read something without the incessant hum of fans.

Like most of you I don't obsessively collect every issue of a mag, but when I do buy it'll probably be:
PC Gamer
Official Xbox
Custom PC
Pc Pro
Airsoft International
Todays Golfer
Wired
Total Guitar
Guitar & Bass

(Obviously not all at once )

[Guy]

If I really wanted to, I could trawl through most of the sites/forums Im on and see the project threads bit by bit, but I would rather a read the whole article, as Funk said complete with professional pics of it.

[CaseyV9]

The problem being is mags like Custom PC have/had good web sites. Great on your mob at work. I buy PC Gamer mainly out of guilt as I enjoy their podcasts. And I find I bearly read the mag. Online you can get more up-to-date info IMO

[nvening]

i have a subscription to new scientist which is great cause it comes every week and is easier, more convinient and nicer to read than on the internet. And to access full articles online you need to be a subscriber anyway.

[Saracen]

.....


Yes there are loads of car and photography forums and news sites, there are far more of their readers that aren't online all the time. And for the speciality car magazines, MaxPower for example, I certainly don't know of any online sources of articles featuring readers cars with professionally taken photos and proper editorial.....

I don't know the current car mags well enough to comment specifically, but in general, I'd say that that's merely a function of available budget.

As readers migrate in increasing numbers to online media, so advertising revenue will migrate with them .... though it requires some innovative approaches to get an online business model to work. Most net users expect content to be free. Some outlets have tried a paid-for subscription content model, but outside of business and specialist publications, it's met with limited success. However, Hexus itself shows that it can be done, including sticking with free content.

If there aren't any car magazines with professional quality photos and journalism, I'd bet it's only a matter of time.

[Guy]

Hmmm I'm still on the point that I dont want to spend my evenings/free time stuck starting at a screen, when I can be relaxing, whilst having a flick through.