Opinions on magazines

Number 1 for sure. I always enjoy kicking back in the recliner and reading magazines.

 

No. 1, who does not enjoy a little solitude on the can with a good magazine. Plus, if the wife does not replace the T.P. roll, you always have an option.

 

#1

the trick is to stick with what print does best and leave out what the internet does best.

Print is the great archive. It survives. It can convey the beauty of a photograph like no other medium. Everyone can have their own personal copy. In this day and age it is NOT the place for breaking news, or to scoop event coverage. There will be pictures of an event posted on the internet AS it is happening these days. So the trick is to find some deeper angle to your coverage of an event. Get some interview that cant be had by the internet press. Do a follow up interview at another location, at another time on the same subject.

leave the to chatter to message boards.

 

I prefer printed mags. Just something cool about searching all the stores for the latest issue, and the ability to take it anywhere.

 

We talk about this a great deal at work. I'm hoping that print magazines do not fade out because I would be out of a job perhaps. We have been building our online presence up over the last couple of years in hope to make a smooth transition if more people request online mags. I will alway stick with a print medium over a online medium. I don't know what it is, but an online magazine seems to feel unfinished. The printing process is half of what a magazine is in terms of putting one together. I think that even if online articles become more popular, die hards will always want to collect the print version. And besides how long can one look at a screen for before it just becomes a pain in the ass.
There are a couple mags that I know that are very exclusive and only print very limited quantities of books but also sell them for crazy prices. Some of them have brought a great deal of craftsmanship back to the publishing business by creating the covers by hand using different materials leaving readers with a great deal of desire for these publications. The reason that I am saying that is because I think that if print meduims are threatened then the designers as well as the publishers are going to have to get creative to hold on to their subscription base. But again what do I know. I put together a magazine called Outlaw Biker where the subscribers could care less about creativity. But none the less I care about the issue.

 

#1 for sure.

I don't even like online magazines. I grew up on paper magazines. Getting a new cover/issue is always exciting & a treat. I would hate to think I had to jack with a computer just to thumb thru an old issue. What would I stack & re-stack ? How would I keep that old magazine smell ? I still look at 1950's & 60's Hot Rod mags almost every day/evening. How am I going to do that with online stuff in 20-30 years ? I'd be sick if everything went to e-zine's, I'd never see anything new after that day, I'd just stick to re-reading what I have.

 

yep. #1 here. I look forward to getting them in the mail and there is something about the tactile-ness of them. I just don't look at online magazines the same. Maybe it has somehting to do with sitting in front of the computer in the same old position and honestly,as great as the comp. is for reference, I can't read too long online...

 

#1

Since my father bought me my first subscription to Popular Hot Rodding around 1980 I have been hooked on Car Magazines. I think it is just one of those things that as a car guy you must have.

 

I still buy and read magazines. I just can't read articles for too long on a monitor, drives my eyes crazy.

 

Print will never die, as much as people would like it to.
Portability...in the can, in the car, in the garage, on the airplane, in the hotel room.
You can't simply toss a laptop on the coffee table, or on the floor when you're reaching for the TP. Logging on to show your buddy this cool article you saw isn't as quick as walking into his office and flipping a mag down on his desk.
Glossy pages cut out and thumbtacked to the bedroom wall, and then later the wall above your work bench will be there for decades...long after the bubblejet ink has faded.
The internet is great for the instant gratification, but when you want something that's a little more tangible, something to slow down and unwind, something you can enjoy with your feet kicked up on the coffee table sitting on the couch in the living room with the rest of your family, it's print.

You can do all that with a laptop I suppose, but I refuse to "upgrade" to an expensive lap-top and in-home wireless internet access...I'd rather spend that money on technology that matters, like 409s, white wall slicks, carburetors and frozen pizza.

-Brad

 

Another vote for # 1 here. I also keep 'em and read them later. I've had certain issues for almost 20 years now !! Besides, (for the high school guys) how are ya gonna hide a computer behind that history book you're supposed to be reading in class !!

 

#1. Kinda hard to lug my PC to the bathroom.

 

Stoner,
We have the "will print be dead sometime in the future" discussion in my industry (direct marketing) regularly as well.

What we've discovered is that with printed materials, there's an opportunity for social interaction that doesn't occur when one reads/interacts online.

Let's say the latest issue of Garage is laying on the coffee table of Joe Blow's den, when 5 of his buddies come over to watch the football game. One of the guys picks up the mag, flips through it and a discussion of some article or feature takes place. That discussion or face to face social interaction rarely takes place when reading online. Beyond that conversation, one or more of Joe's buddies may buy the magazine on the newsstand or even subscribe as a result of the positive social experience.

I don't think the ability to hold a tangible object (a printed magazine), point to it, interact with it, show and discuss it with your friends, take it with you on a plane, or even to the john can be replaced by anything online.

Another thought – when a guy buys magazines, he always has access to the content and depending on how organized he is, has immediate access to it. Online content comes and goes for lots of reasons beyond the end user's control.

 

Another vote for #1. We were without power for 3-1/2 days back in February, my stack of car magazines and my Grandfather's old hurricane lamp are the only things that kept me from going insane.

I grew up with magazines, I love the feel of the paper between my fingers, the smell of the ink and the way the stacks of car magazines around my recliner in the winter drive my wife nuts! With the swing back to doing it the old way ( aka the RIGHT way.........) why would anyone consider doing away with paper?

 

There are 3 different groups as far as I'm concerned.

- Old Magazines.

- new Magazines.

- Internet.

I still buy Old Mags.
I about 15 issues away from having my Tripple C ( English ) collection complete from '67 to '99.
I buy Littlebooks.
Trend, Fawcett, etc. '60 and older mostly...
Sportscar illustrated, and other stuff I might see at a Swapmeet...

I have gotten really selective about New Magazines.
I used to have 14 Subs, got rid of almost all of those.
Only have 4 now ( but one or two of those are really expensive )

Love the things the Internet can give me that the Mags cant.
Quick responce.
Open discussions to work on a Tech problem.
History ( sometimes really obscure )
Knowing I'm not reading a infomercial.
And seeing what other Hot Rodders are building inspires me in a way I havent been since lil John Buttera's HRM series...

 

I love the 'net but I agree with everyone else, I vote for number one. There's something nice about having something tangible like a well put together magazine.

I am also a pack rat/collector so that also factors in my choice as well. You can never have too much cool stuff.

 

I dont buy the mags.They really aren't time sensitive, so when my buddies are through with theirs they drop em off to me. Some issues I never see but its not a big deal in my world.

 

#2. The net has reduced my magazine buying to almost nothing (my wife wont agree)

Only magazine I have bought regularly for the last 6 months is Garage.

After losing a bunch of my collection in flooding, old magazines arent as attractive to me anymore.

 

I'm # 1 all the way.
I still have every issue of Cartoons from my subscription starting when I was 9 or so. Except one, and it still haunts me!
But I do have to agree with print magazines being a little time sensitive. Coverage on a show that I've seen all over the HAMB a month prior for instance. But that dos'nt lean me towards online mags. Just more HAMB please.
I've not really realized it until now, but the mags I continue to buy and like the most, (TRJ and Garage, Hop Up when I come across one) dont really date themselves with time sensitive coverage. Just quality pics and articles.

BTW, Good stuff going on there at Garage Stoner. Very original subject matter. I know it'll be there 10 years from now, piled up next to my Cartoons and TRJ's.

 

I'm going with #1. I love magazines and books. I still have most of the mags I've bought over the last 30-35 years and wouldn't get rid of them for anything. It's kind of a pain to store them but nothing beats opening the box I'm looking for and that old paper smell hits and I get lost for the next few hours looking through books that have nothing to do with what I'm researching. It's also a tactile thing with me I like to hold the magazine. That being said I like the internet for certain things but I will never stop buying mags. Garage, TRJ, Hop Up and TRK are all excellent reading and I look forward to every new issue that comes out.
Tiki

 

This is great info and insight, y'all! I'm not gonna taint these opinions with my own, rather just let you know that yours are extremely valuable and I consider it a great favor that you'll share it with me. In most cases, you'd get paid or compensated for your opinion and I can't do that, so just know that I appreciate your time.

Now, let's hear more!

STONER

 

#1: nothing can replace the feel of a magazine (and Garage just feels sooooo good). Also, I can always take my rags with me and read them when I want to. Just holding a magazine gives rise to a collection of sensory stimulation (touch, smell, sight, sound) all of these combined make reading a magazine fun. The net, is so sterile and detached

The Net provides additional research and confirmation tools, as well as a place to find more pictures and reading material. When reading a magazine you find a picture of a car that you really want to see more of, many times that "more of" can be found on the web.

 

I subscribe to TRJ and I had one also for R&C ... but when JimA left ... I let it lapse.

Every now and then I will buy one off the rack ... ( last one was R&C with Hendersons black 32 3W on the cover ).

Most of the magazines now do not apeal to me ... the cars and the tech are lame ( to me ). I am not into the new look and 22 inch rims on pre 49 vehicles. In fact ... most of the pre 49 vehicles featured have NOTHING on them that is really pre 49.

Since joing the HAMB ... I rarely need a magazine for entertainment. ... BUT ... I have about a thousand old ones ...

 

I get lots of magazines, not just car magazines. I love having magazines in my hand and I think that they will continue on until someone makes a cheap printer that gives you magazine quality product, then the buisness is dead.

Wanna get rich? Figure out how to print nice glossy magazine stock on a home printer cheaply and patent it.

Part of it is dead now, specifically news and other things you don't want to keep. I get Newsweek because my airline miles were going to expire so I spent them all on magazine subscriptions. I'd never buy it otherwise and when it's up that will be it. I read them and recycle them.

However, I could never really accept National Geographic in any other form than the square spined, weird sized magazine.

I like my car mags to be physical objects as well. I find myself reading them over and over during those moments that I have a couple of minutes to kill (like the particular time everyone else mentioned or with my coffee in the morning).

Hope that helps somehow.

PS: Porn is far better online so avoid the nudie mag biz.

 

same as everyone one else, #1 absolutely.

but, I'll take both as each provide and do different things. If I need to decide between an apple and an orange I will, but don't need to.

I do think it is a good idea though that print mags have some kind of decent online presence. In an ideal world, they would have great print mags as well as a great website that work together somehow and the webpage wasn't just for marketing of the print mag. At some point in the future, that is how it will be as internet can't go on being just the "free" version of real world stuff forever.

 

On-line webzines don't have fold-out posters of David Hasselhoff standing next to a dragster (Hahahaha!!)

 

I'm sure I have over 2000 mags. I don't subscribe to any of em anymore. There are just too many. I look at em on the stands, if I like whats in a particular issue I buy it. Life style stuff doesn't really do it for me, so if there is too much of that I don't buy.

I still buy the old ones from the 50s and 60s though.

 

1.

Although I don't buy as many as I used to, a good mag is a good mag........period. I will always buy, but it must be quality or I'm out. I would rather sit in front of a magazine stand for hours than searching for them on-line.

I sell NO ads like an idiot. It keeps it more about passion for me rather than a business. You are obviously in a different boat. One day I may have to change stance on that a little, or Church could die. But not today. New issue soon. Plug. Plug. Plug.

 

I am a magazineaholic. I have one entire room dedicated to magazines. I'm probably towards 2000 copies old and new.

And of course I'm starting my own so there ya go.