traditional "print magazines" in digital form, yes. I love the magazines in Apple News. I still read Macworld, Wired and others. I think I read more magazines now because of Apple News. I don't have the room at home for dead tree media.
No, but I would if print magazines tried got with the times instead of running on fumes trying to compete with the pace of the internet.
The main issue I have is periodicity: for most magazines, a weekly frequency is way too much in this day and age. It creates clutter in the home, and editorially, it incentivizes the addition of filler and spam content. The New Yorker can do this because they sell a lot of ads and act as a guide to local events.
But I think Businessweek and The Economist could benefit from going twice-monthly. Nobody's going to their websites for instant news and analyses, so a slightly longer gap between issues could allow for their articles to take on a much greater depth and nuance.
Yes, I’ve been a print subscriber to Harper’s and The Atlantic for many years.
I find myself easily distracted reading any long form content on a screen. The temptation to check email or social media is strong.
I also prefer to read print materials when I am alone sitting at a coffee shop or a lunch counter or riding the train.
I feel more aware of my surroundings. People tend to engage me more, ask me what I’m reading etc. than if I have my face buried in my phone. It feels less antisocial.
The experience just feels qualitatively different. When I’m reading print, some part of my mind feels—in a pleasant way—that it is in the physical not digital world.
There's a few short story magazines that I wish I could subscribe to in print. Clarkesworld[1] for one example. Unfortunately, I doubt it would be profitable for them.
Yes, lots of them. I hate reading on the screen, enough that I own a color laser printer more or less just to print articles that I want to read that are online. But for the most part, I find articles in print magazines to be far superior over what is online: better moderated, more interesting, better written, etc. This probably isn't a complete list, but I pay for: THE NEW YORKER, BUSINESS WEEK, THE ATLANTIC, TIME, WIRED, MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. I also take advantage of online content that my subscriptions provide. You'll note that none of those are computer related stuff; that I do get online, but that's in part because all of the print computer magazines I subscribed to went out of business.
Yes! Because I too hate reading on screen, and like coverlcock, also purchased a printer just to print out the essays that seem interesting at a glance.
Also, if anyone wants to build a social network that allows trusted friends to send articles (images removed, reader versions with good typography) directly to your printer, let me know. I'd love to work on this with someone.
@blueridge Seeing if this will reach across cyberspace this late into a thread, but my contact is in my profile. I'd be curious about chatting more re. this concept. :)
I've found that it doesn't hurt. You're not looking at a light source but reflected light. Like you do with a printed page. I find it is much better on the eyes.
I went for over a decade without any magazine subscriptions, then I kinda binged one night in 2021 and subscribed to a dozen or so that caught my interest. The majority I won't resubscribe to, but over the year or so I built up some good topical knowledge, and enjoyed checking out a lot of the small business/product ads.
I've ended up renewing: High Country News (monthly), Overland Journal (quarterly), and Backwoods Home (quarterly)
Still subscribing to the physical Scientific American magazine. A physical magazine actually gets me to pick it up and read it, without distractions. There's something rewarding about seeing a coffee mug stain and pen scribbles on a profound article.
I used to subscribe to Wired for decades until the magazine became 80% advertisements. I switched to Texture but got bored with all of it. I cannot remember the last time I purchased a magazine.
The reading experience is better & there’s no distraction, so I do except that I cancelled The New Yorker because I got tired of Condé Nast sending scammy “final notice” offers in the mail.
I still subscribe to 2600 (The Hacker Quarterly) but that's it. I look forward to each issue and read them front to back several times. I even regularly go back and look at old issues both for specific articles and just to read randomly. They offer a lifetime subscription and I plan on getting that at some point (you can also add on an order for every single back issue they've ever made, which is gonna be hard to resist!).
I used to subscribe to The Wire but as much as I enjoy it, I always had an unread backlog. Now I just buy new and used editions at Amoeba Music occasionally. It's a surprisingly satisfying experience particularly compared to other magazines I still subscribe to that have become more of a slog to work though as good as they may be. I hated The Wire online version when I tried that, with access to all back issues making it seem endless.
A couple of decades ago (2000-2005) I used to subscribe to 20+ magazines, from electronics, to games, business, photography and more. Over the years most of them went bankrupt, or I lost interest, or just annoyed by the effort to manage the subscriptions (and the environmental waste).
I still faithfully subscribe to two: Circuit Cellar [1] and Maximum PC [2]. Love reading each edition, and hope they continue to exist for a long time.
I would love to but the texts to ad ratio is horrendous when you are used to adblockers. Last time I read a magazine I actually ended up counting and more than 40% of the content was ads. Felt like a waste of time and money. I'd rather just buy a book.
Just one at the moment, Waveform Magazine. It’s a quarterly publication focusing on modular synthesizers. I love getting them in the mail and disappearing into interviews for the next few afternoons.
Yes. If I was to really think about it and summarise my reasons:
Curation - yes, I could probably find similar stories on the web and read them, but a print magazine does the discovery and brings them all together for me in a way that a search engine or news aggregator doesn't/chooses not to. When browsing news sites, I find myself only selecting/reading articles based on their title and slug-line (which is the entire purpose of click-bait titles) whereas with a magazine/print publication, I'll read it cover-to-cover, exposing me to stories and points of view that I would otherwise miss. I've also found that good long-form journalism appears to be a dying art in the online world, but maybe that's on me for the sites I visit.
Focus - A magazine doesn't try and grab my attention with animation, video and other distractions. Yes they run ads, but (in the periodicals I read) they are generally full page and not halfway through the sentence you are reading. Print ads are expensive, so in my experience generally only promote high-end or luxury products targeting a perception of the magazine reader, rather than the last thing the reader searched for/emailed/said out aloud in front of their home speaker. I can also read through an article end-to-end without being pulled down a rabbit hole of links and references. Reading once again becomes a purposeful activity, without sitting in front of a machine that could easily switch from a book to a TV, to a video game in seconds.
Texture - there is something about picking up a book or magazine (especially higher end publications that print on quality paper stock) that I don't think will ever be emulated by a tablet or an e-reader. I'm sure I read somewhere that the touch and even smell of paper in your subconscious helps your brain store information longer term. Also, I love great typesetting and layout, things that online ads pretty much ruin for most sites.
On and off, but yes. I do this namely because I: enjoy collecting them, prefer reading them physically, and like to appreciate the design elements found in a good magazine layout. IMO the "reading experience delta" for physical vs digital is significantly greater for magazines than books.
Though, the only one I actively subscribe to right now is a famous Russian magazine[1] that's analogous to NatGeo
I enjoy reading the physical magazine without having to be at my desk or the distraction that comes along with staring at a screen. Reading physical media is also a nice break/escape from reading academic papers and other stuff online.
My print subscriptions: Foreign Affairs, New Yorker, New York Review of Books.
I enjoy having something tangibly physical that isn't on a screen with a coffee and no distractions. I would suggest the Atlantic, slow journalism. Books I'm ok with using a small eInk device due to the convenience but no nice form factor for magazines.
For professional reading its probably a different use case than most here but I subscribe to NEJM, a nature reviews journal and another medical journal in my specialty and find it much easier selectively and focus on browsing through abstracts and articles this way. If am taking notes I prefer digital to take screenshots.
I stayed at a German guest house where I was the youngest person there at dinner time by at least 30 years once. Interesting experience. One thing I really liked was they slipped a sheet with headlines, local weather under your door every morning. I've contemplated recreating that and having my printer it every morning...
55 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 108 ms ] threadA worth while mention out of print (truly inspirational and excellent quality production)
Modern Farmer
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Farmer_(magazine)
And if you have obtainium, there’s Jane’s Defense https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane's_Defence_Weekly
traditional "print magazines" in digital form, yes. I love the magazines in Apple News. I still read Macworld, Wired and others. I think I read more magazines now because of Apple News. I don't have the room at home for dead tree media.
The main issue I have is periodicity: for most magazines, a weekly frequency is way too much in this day and age. It creates clutter in the home, and editorially, it incentivizes the addition of filler and spam content. The New Yorker can do this because they sell a lot of ads and act as a guide to local events.
But I think Businessweek and The Economist could benefit from going twice-monthly. Nobody's going to their websites for instant news and analyses, so a slightly longer gap between issues could allow for their articles to take on a much greater depth and nuance.
I find myself easily distracted reading any long form content on a screen. The temptation to check email or social media is strong.
I also prefer to read print materials when I am alone sitting at a coffee shop or a lunch counter or riding the train.
I feel more aware of my surroundings. People tend to engage me more, ask me what I’m reading etc. than if I have my face buried in my phone. It feels less antisocial.
The experience just feels qualitatively different. When I’m reading print, some part of my mind feels—in a pleasant way—that it is in the physical not digital world.
[1]: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/
Also, if anyone wants to build a social network that allows trusted friends to send articles (images removed, reader versions with good typography) directly to your printer, let me know. I'd love to work on this with someone.
https://www.thenewatlantis.com (highly recommended)
https://hedgehogreview.com
https://thepointmag.com
I too hate reading on the computer.
I've ended up renewing: High Country News (monthly), Overland Journal (quarterly), and Backwoods Home (quarterly)
[0] https://www.thewire.co.uk/home/
I still faithfully subscribe to two: Circuit Cellar [1] and Maximum PC [2]. Love reading each edition, and hope they continue to exist for a long time.
[1] https://circuitcellar.com/
[2] https://www.magazinesdirect.com/az-magazines/6936599/maximum...
https://waveformmagazine.com/
There’s simply no reason to be wasting trees and energy like that.
Curation - yes, I could probably find similar stories on the web and read them, but a print magazine does the discovery and brings them all together for me in a way that a search engine or news aggregator doesn't/chooses not to. When browsing news sites, I find myself only selecting/reading articles based on their title and slug-line (which is the entire purpose of click-bait titles) whereas with a magazine/print publication, I'll read it cover-to-cover, exposing me to stories and points of view that I would otherwise miss. I've also found that good long-form journalism appears to be a dying art in the online world, but maybe that's on me for the sites I visit.
Focus - A magazine doesn't try and grab my attention with animation, video and other distractions. Yes they run ads, but (in the periodicals I read) they are generally full page and not halfway through the sentence you are reading. Print ads are expensive, so in my experience generally only promote high-end or luxury products targeting a perception of the magazine reader, rather than the last thing the reader searched for/emailed/said out aloud in front of their home speaker. I can also read through an article end-to-end without being pulled down a rabbit hole of links and references. Reading once again becomes a purposeful activity, without sitting in front of a machine that could easily switch from a book to a TV, to a video game in seconds.
Texture - there is something about picking up a book or magazine (especially higher end publications that print on quality paper stock) that I don't think will ever be emulated by a tablet or an e-reader. I'm sure I read somewhere that the touch and even smell of paper in your subconscious helps your brain store information longer term. Also, I love great typesetting and layout, things that online ads pretty much ruin for most sites.
Monocle Magazine - https://monocle.com/magazine/
Hey Gents (Now Softer Volumes) - https://softervolumes.com
The Smith Journal - (sadly now out of print)
Though, the only one I actively subscribe to right now is a famous Russian magazine[1] that's analogous to NatGeo
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vokrug_sveta
My print subscriptions: Foreign Affairs, New Yorker, New York Review of Books.
Sub to:
- Economist - New Yorker - Foreign Affairs - New York Review of Books - London Review of Books
Love them all, deeply. And then use the reviews as firestarters.
Boardgames - https://senetmagazine.com/ Psychedelics - https://doubleblindmag.com/ Cooking - https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated Puzzles - https://gamesmagazine-online.com/ World transformations - https://www.noemamag.com/
AD, Vogue, The New Yorker as of now for me.
For professional reading its probably a different use case than most here but I subscribe to NEJM, a nature reviews journal and another medical journal in my specialty and find it much easier selectively and focus on browsing through abstracts and articles this way. If am taking notes I prefer digital to take screenshots.
I stayed at a German guest house where I was the youngest person there at dinner time by at least 30 years once. Interesting experience. One thing I really liked was they slipped a sheet with headlines, local weather under your door every morning. I've contemplated recreating that and having my printer it every morning...