Ask Slashdot: What Magazines Do You Still Read? 363
AmiMoJo writes "Over on Slashdot Japan, there is a discussion about what magazines people still read (Google translation of Japanese original). Japanese people still tend to read a lot of periodicals, while in the west readership seems to be in decline. Do you read magazines regularly, or at all? Are websites a good substitute, or do print publications still offer something worth spending your cash on?"
Push vs. Pull (Score:5, Interesting)
Print publications are literally put into my hand, giving me more incentive to read them upon receipt. Web sites require an active effort on my part to go read them, which is often not done due to my habit of procrastination ("I'll take time to check that tomorrow"). Even email links to my monthly periodicals go unused, for similar reasons.
To me, it's the difference between polling- and interrupt-driven systems. The processor has to be constantly (or at least repetitively) awake to poll, while the processor can be asleep and awoken by an interrupt. The interrupt-based system is usually the lower-energy way to go.
New Yorker (Score:4, Interesting)
The New Yorker's commentary is often insightful, and I read it regularly. I also occasionally read The Atlantic.
In general, magazines (either print or online) are still where one goes to get well-researched, long-form articles.
None (Score:4, Interesting)
What I would relish though is a magazine reader like a 17" touch screen iPad, but one with the smoothness of display of the iPad and the ease on the eyes of the liquidInk of the Kindle.
I WANT this.
I want it for reading PDFs of programming manuals, for reading beautiful magazines, for browsing beautiful coffee table books in digital format.
Re:They still have magazines? (Score:4, Interesting)
I bought a newspaper last Sunday. The bird cages needed to be cleaned.
Just for old time's sake, I pulled out the want-ads, intending to look in a couple categories... I couldn't believe that those four skimpy pages were the entire Sunday want-ads. It used to be an entire separate section of the newspaper. One of the categories I was looking for didn't even exist.
I'm a little surprised that newspapers manage to stay in business.
The Economist (Score:5, Interesting)
I read The Economist (every week) and I am constantly amazed by its quality and informativeness. Although, I must mention, I technically don't read most of it since I consume the Audio Edition [economist.com] during my commute to work. The articles I don't get to during the week (because my commute is slightly shorter than the average audio edition length) I typically try to catch up on with the dead-tree edition that is delivered. If the USPS ever ends Saturday delivery that's one thing I'll miss: getting my delivery of the economist before Monday.
The subscription price is a little steep (about US$120), I feel like I could not go without it.
Re:None (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:None (Score:5, Interesting)
Cracked.com [cracked.com] is a perfect example of how to move from a print publication to an online model.
Actually, Cracked was a meh, me-too imitation of MAD as a print publication. They got MUCH better in their online incarnation.
Several (Score:4, Interesting)
The Atlantic
Lapham's Quarterly
Foreign Affairs (used to)
A few trade magazines
I read them in the hot tub, on travel, in bed.
No worries if they get wet, or lost, or if you fall asleep while reading them.
Most also come with full access to their web site, which often includes access to their entire back-catalog!