Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Farewell PC Magazine


PC Magazine announced that it was ceasing production of its print magazine. I’ve seen a lot of print magazines come and go, but I have to admit, this caused me a little sadness.

I am old enough to remember the days when PC Magazine was the bible for quasi-geeks like me. I used to save issues that way my parents saved National Geographic, or my brothers saved Rolling Stone.


We were a large group composed of non-engineers who none the less were fascinated by technology. It was PC Magazine that taught me how to build my first computer. It was PC Magazine that taught me how to create my first network. It was PC Magazine that taught me how to write that formula to get MS Excel to do exactly what I wanted. We are the same people who thought the original Screen Savers with Leo Laporte was the best show on TV (Where else on television could you find out how to hack password files (in case you forgot yours, of course), copy DVDs (in case your originals were lost in a fire, of course) or make a stun gun out of a disposable camera (um…no excuse for that one other than it was really cool)).


Every week, I looked forward to John Dvorak complaining about Microsoft, video cards, new peripherals, John Dvorak complaining about Microsoft, year end predictions that never materialized, the hottest PC games, and John Dvorak complaining about Microsoft. I also will miss puzzling over why a tech magazine carried ads for a sex pillow and “dietary supplements.”


One of my few regrets in life was when I emailed PC Magazine suggesting that they focus more ink on covering the Internet and gaming. An editor wrote back saying that was a good idea and encouraged me to submit something. Of course, I was too busy/lazy to follow through. Sigh.


Times change, however, and PC Magazine began to lose both its audience and voice. As PC prices dropped, and more technology options became available, people became more concerned with what the box or software could actually do, and less concerned with how to tweak what they already have. Furthermore, I found myself less inclined to read a print review comparing 5 types of video cards when I could go online to compare 25 types.


The core problem for the print version of PC Magazine was that they could not serve the broader consumer market interested in digital cameras and HDTVs while maintaining their core tech audience.


They made a ill-conceived effort to try, however. In the second half of a recent issue, I read about an open port strategy for my router. The first part of the same issue had an article that breathlessly advised me that I “can get a free email account by going to mail.yahoo.com.” Really? Thanks PC Magazine!


The truth is I haven’t subscribed to PC Magazine for many years. The only time I would ever really read it is when I am flying-and I found less and less reason not to leave it in the seat pocket for the next person.


So farewell print version of PC Magazine. You had a good run. Now I just need to figure out what to read on airplanes.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it kinda went downhill

Adam said...

Seven different advertising, circulation and production positions will be nullified, but considering that a total of about 140 people currently work on PC Magazine and its website, that may not seem like much of a cut in the job department.
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Adam

buzz marketing

Unknown said...

Hey, let us know what you find to read. Here in San Diego, there was computoredge, and they went paperless (useless) about a year ago. Now pc mag. What's left worth reading?