Do You Still Read Magazines?

Duracuir1 · Aug 12, 2021

Hi. I have included photos of an interesting piece from the 1950s about a Swiss watchmaker. Also here is a simple recipe for luminous paint. Plus lots of ads, many watch related for your viewing pleasure. This is from a bundle of old magazines that I got from a neighbour’s yard sale. All for the price of one or two of today’s magazines.

As for my question, magazines are not as abundant as they once were. Do you still buy them?

We subscribe to the NY Times and the Economist. The Economist shows up at a fast pace and its hard to keep up. We love it!

Last year, I subscribed to GQ. After a few issues I felt that it sucked and was not what it used to be. Then I realized that I am the one who got old and GQ has kept up with the times. I still cancelled.

Here are the photos and articles in no specific order.

@Omega1 is that you?

I wonder if this is how @Canuck makes his lume?

blufinz52 · Aug 12, 2021

Just one magazine now; Skeptical Inquirer.

Evitzee · Aug 12, 2021

I used to subscribe to multiple motorcycle magazines, but they've all stopped publishing in the last couple of years. My wife gets one cooking magazine, but everything else is read on 'net. We just don't rely on paper based magazines or newspapers any more.

Walrus · Aug 12, 2021

I love the economist. I love how it breaks down the world news and you get updates on almost every country on the planet. I think I subscribed a solid ten years straight I kept all the “year in review” and special editions over those years. I let my subscription a while back as I was finding it was becoming a bit opinionated rather than reporting but I really miss it. I will probably restart a subscription this year. It gotta be one of the best news magazines for world news around or perhaps there are better I just haven’t found.

DaveK · Aug 12, 2021

I used to really enjoy magazines. Now at $7-$12 each for a rack rate, I keep thinking “I’ll just buy a book instead”. One nice coffee table book can cost just 2x a magazine on the same subject. I don’t buy the coffee table books either - no space for those in Vancouver-sized apartments. On rereading this, I realize that apparently, I’m a cheapskate 😬

Thanks for posting the article, I’m on vacation and needed something to read - for free, and on my iPad. I’m livin’ the dream!!

TimeODanaos · Aug 12, 2021

Walrus
I love the economist. I love how it breaks down the world news and you get updates on almost every country on the planet. I think I subscribed a solid ten years straight I kept all the “year in review” and special editions over those years. I let my subscription a while back as I was finding it was becoming a bit opinionated rather than reporting but I really miss it. I will probably restart a subscription this year. It gotta be one of the best news magazines for world news around or perhaps there are better I just haven’t found.

I finally switched my subscription exclusively to their online offering. I used to drive my wife crazy disappearing for a half day to read their weekly print edition. Now, I drive myself crazy, as they hit me all day and night with interesting content faster than I can keep up! Hmmm... maybe another advantage of those good ol' pre-digital days....

Doc Savage · Aug 12, 2021

I recently started receiving The Atlantic again. I have been reading their online version for a while, but I love reading the physical version.

Walrus · Aug 12, 2021

TimeODanaos
I finally switched my subscription exclusively to their online offering. I used to drive my wife crazy disappearing for a half day to read their weekly print edition. Now, I drive myself crazy, as they hit me all day and night with interesting content faster than I can keep up! Hmmm... maybe another advantage of those good ol' pre-digital days....

How do u like the digital? I just didn’t like it as much I had it fit three months one time along with my subscription but didn’t really get into it do you find it good on the phone. It certainly does cut down on clutter though

TimeODanaos · Aug 12, 2021

Walrus
How do u like the digital?

I do like it, and I read it on both PC and phone. Drawbacks, well - sometimes it's too much on tap for the humanware to cope; sometimes having a static edition that you just then go through linearly is a better way to make the info actually stick as a whole; and they have some great graphics but the phone just can't convey enough. Like with watches, there is a time and place for getting "push notifications" and all that, but sometimes the capacity of the tech outruns any actual need to have it.
So, apart from the drinking from a firehose aspect, the same could apply to a lot of modern reading experiences. There are good and bad points, but I have to say I never got on with my Kindle and I went back to solid books, even when no pictures were involved. Interesting topic for study - I'm gonna ask my kids about this - I think they'll say, they also started with the printed word, went away from it as the tech developed, but went back to books if not magazines, not unlike me their old man!

kip595 · Aug 12, 2021

I've been getting told I'm 'an old soul' since I was about 12, I'm 34 now, and I have yet to own a kindle, tablet, or read anything more than the occasional article online...pretty much always at a full desktop, or at least my laptop.

At least once a month, usually 2-3 times, I stop by a bookstore, sometimes Barnes & Noble, sometimes a local shop. I rarely leave without something, and probably about 1/2 the time it's a periodical of some sort. Yep, some I actually literally buy just to look at the pictures and ads, knowing full well I can see them for free (usually) with a quick Google search.

My ex was wrong about a lot of things when it came to me, but she got it right when she called me a bibliophile. 🙄

Fun thread and some great images, @Duracuir1

Walrus · Aug 12, 2021

TimeODanaos
I do like it, and I read it on both PC and phone. Drawbacks, well - sometimes it's too much on tap for the humanware to cope; sometimes having a static edition that you just then go through linearly is a better way to make the info actually stick as a whole; and they have some great graphics but the phone just can't convey enough. Like with watches, there is a time and place for getting "push notifications" and all that, but sometimes the capacity of the tech outruns any actual need to have it.
So, apart from the drinking from a firehose aspect, the same could apply to a lot of modern reading experiences. There are good and bad points, but I have to say I never got on with my Kindle and I went back to solid books, even when no pictures were involved. Interesting topic for study - I'm gonna ask my kids about this - I think they'll say, they also started with the printed word, went away from it as the tech developed, but went back to books if not magazines, not unlike me their old man!

Well maybe I’ll give it another go. The problem is I really can only use my phone as my wife’s an engineer and often has three PC’s going at once although I have been thinking about getting a cheap laptop for work as someone lost the iPad that was for my own use a while back and my place is so cheap I don’t expect a replacement anytime soon. Possible never actually but it’s ok i like apple but it’s a pain typing on that thing.

Downside is more time staring at my phone. Shoot it’s scary to think of the time I spend staring at watches in WRUW really makes me doubt my sanity at times

mrbreen · Aug 12, 2021

I use the Apple News+ service which bundles many subscriptions together. Though it seems lately that I primarily use it for The Atlantic. Interface and ease of use are great on an iPad. Also get the dead tree version of the NYT on Sunday which includes their weekly magazine. Still a Sunday ritual to make my way through some of that.

p4ul · Aug 13, 2021

I use both online and paper, Private Eye subscriber and Good Housekeeping (OK, that arrives but isn’t actually mine!) but also read news and general interest on various websites (The Daily Mash, Lifehacker, Pocket Lint and too many others).

I had every issue of Q until it closed down and by coincidence I heard a BBC programme about music publications made in 2014 last night that explained the rise and fall of music publication that I found fascinating, (it reflect what seems to be happening to most printed media) if anyone is interested here is a link..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gr9h5

gbesq · Aug 13, 2021

Only one, The Wine Spectator. I just like the paper version better than the online version. I'll admit, though, that I wouldn't subscribe to it if I had to pay the going rate in cash. An annual subscription only costs me 1,000 Delta Skymiles. 😀

imfagent449 · Aug 13, 2021

The Economist. My local library has a digital subscription. I have my phone read it to me when I walk.

My preference is to read it in a paper magazine and then on a tablet but I am a captive audience when I walk.

loniscup · Aug 13, 2021

Used to have subscriptions to 3-4 car magazines but for a few years now, I've only kept Octane coming to my door. Never missed an issue since the first one.

TimeODanaos · Aug 13, 2021

imfagent449
The Economist. My local library has a digital subscription. I have my phone read it to me when I walk.

My preference is to read it in a paper magazine and then on a tablet but I am a captive audience when I walk.

Ah yes, I forgot that facility. I recently had a lengthy (and scary) article about climate change read to me by (I think) a BBC guy called Neil Nunes. A voice like Darth Vader's kind scholarly uncle - a musical pleasure, an asset to spoken English (I care about a lot), and helped me sit up and notice things I might otherwise have skim-read and skim-understood.

vintage hab · Aug 13, 2021

I still enjoy paper versions. I'm subscribed to Wired and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. I also receive a professional association magazine that I leaf through. I would like to be more into the digital version as it would allow me to read during the night without waking my better half. I do need a new tablet though, mine is circa '09 and can't run a lot of stuff (not to mention how slow it is).

BPD · Aug 13, 2021

Duracuir1
Last year, I subscribed to GQ. After a few issues I felt that it sucked and was not what it used to be. Then I realized that I am the one who got old and GQ has kept up with the times. I still cancelled.

I definitely agree with you with GQ. I have been collecting the US edition of GQ since 1990 and have not missed a single issue and I do ask myself why I'm still buying it....

DaveK · Aug 13, 2021

vintage hab
...I do need a new tablet though, mine is circa '09 and can't run a lot of stuff (not to mention how slow it is).

I think my old iPad has just stopped receiving updates from Apple. Amazing that they can build complicated electronics that last this long. And frustrating that they can render it almost useless by stopping upgrades

Do You Still Read Magazines?

Duracuir1

blufinz52

Evitzee

Walrus

DaveK

TimeODanaos

Doc Savage

Walrus

TimeODanaos

kip595

Walrus

mrbreen

p4ul

gbesq

imfagent449

loniscup

TimeODanaos

vintage hab

BPD

DaveK

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