They Said Paul Was Dead, Too, And Look How That Turned Out

Mr. Magazine, in preparing to defend the longevity of print magazines in a debate at the Florida Magazine Association’s annual convention, notes that fashion magazines this fall inadvertently helped him in his construction of an argument. Vogue, Bazaar, Elle and W all proudly tout that their September issues are their biggest issues ever:

My eyes started to play tricks on me…magazine after magazine in the women and fashion section were screaming at me “Biggest Issue Ever.” I rubbed my eyes and took a second look. I asked myself how can this be true? I thought someone told me (actually a lot of someones) that print is dead. Well folks, guess what, print is not dead.
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Four different magazines with hundreds of pages all ready for your fingers to do the walking… no matter how many pages you can store on one e-paper, the feeling is not the same. Buying those magazines, for less than $20 total, gave me the complete satisfaction of having my cake and eating it too. My friend Bob, you know you can’t have your e-paper and eat it too…

For what it's worth, I am a subscriber to more than a dozen magazines and regularly buy single copies of others. I have been a magazine reader and buyer since I was a pre-teen. My selection has changed, but the number of magazines I read has only grown. However, I read no online magazines or e-papers. Nothing that tries to simulate the paper format digitally. And this is coming from someone who spends dozens and dozens of hours a week online--someone who consumes media and communicates primarily on the internet. I have to agree with Mr. Magazine on this one. Print is not dead. At least not yet.

EDITED TO ADD: An opposing view from someone who finds magazines boring overall.

Comments

[Kate O']

Best post title ever.