So it’s come to this… (AARP magazine)
I subscribe to a LOT of magazines – mostly science, technology, politics and history. But the other day I was stretching and the only thing within reach was the AARP rag. MrsDoF subscribed to it while I was in hospital last year, I think, but this was the first time I picked one up:
“Michael Douglas on his second chance as something something…”
“The perfect panini”
“The lost art of conversation”
“A bunch more articles with similarly boring titles”
Sorry, I couldn’t actually read any of them. I just can’t make myself give a crap about some actor, for instance. The advertisements were mostly for rich, very good-looking old people who go on cruises a lot. And ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles and use cell phones with enormous buttons. And what’s up with the name? At the rate I’m going, I should be able to retire sometime during the Paris Hilton administration.
But wait! There was one article about knee exercises, which I actually read. I’ve added one of them to my regular workout, to strengthen the muscles that give my knees lateral support.
Thanks, AARP. And I think your magazine, if folded out flat, will make a great cat-box liner. So you’re twice useful.
But wait! There’s more! AARP Magazine
- Makes great firelighters!
- Cures insomnia!
- Kills flies!
- Disciplines dogs!
- And so much more!
See? The trees didn’t die in vain!
I used to read magazines a lot. At some point, for reasons unknown it became less appealing. Partly, I suppose, because of the internet. If newspapers have a hard time telling my anything “new,” so much the worse for magazines. As with newspapers, I found that the line between reportage and editorializing became more and more blurred.
Anyway, I decided last year that the remaining few magazines which interested me had to be online, and without less content than the print version, to hold my interest. I ended all paper magazine subscriptions. Oh, I’m willing to pay to subscribe to a limited few, but so far only “Acoustic Guitar” listened, and that’s now my only magazine.
I too have a hard time caring about most if not all magazine info. Its mostly a bunch of worthless BS.
It depends a lot on the magazine, Webs. My subs vary a bit as they run out but here are the most consistent ones:
National Geographic
Scientific American
New Scientist
American Heritage Science & Technology
MIT Technology Review
MAKE
Church & State
The Economist
Mother Jones
Wired
I have noticed since I started reading sci-tech bloggers that I have become more impatient with science journalists. When I want to know about climate, should I read a brief post on a climatologist’s blog, or a lengthy aggregation by a journalist, which starts with a human-interest vignette about a pretzel vendor whose street corner would be under water if the Antarctic glaciers melted in 150 years, and just for “balance” includes a quote from climate kook Christopher Monckton on why the actual scientists are wrong?
Ironically it may be my iPod that finally kills my magazine subs. I usually read magazines over lunch, but since getting an iPod I can read RSS feeds from my favorite bloggers and sci-tech websites. And be reminded of appointments and watch the email stream. And not have to carry magazines in my backpack.
Having discovered this utility, when Lenovo comes out with their version of the iPad, I will probably get one. I hope my favorite mags are planning for the day when practically all geeks do something similar.
(I totally lost patience with newspapers a few years ago. Our local paper should just go hyper-local; I want to know what those sirens on Mulberry street at 2:00 yesterday were all about. Couldn’t care less what the Pantagraph’s editor thinks of Obama. And web readers will mean the end of killing trees to deliver yesterday’s news.)
I lost patience with the Pantagraph after realizing they started writing piece after piece bashing the local community college (HCC) where my dad worked. Naturally because my dad worked there this introduces a bias in how I look at the Pantagraph. It just never made sense to me how they badmouthed HCC time and again when community colleges actually do a lot for their communities and provide assistance and training to those that would otherwise not likely be able to afford it. It seemed to make more sense to help promote them and call them out when they do something wrong than to just cry wolf immediately everytime. This also lead to an eventual loathe of all forms of local news. I guess I dont really have a town I call home and maybe when I do I will care more about what happens locally.
I have magazines that I do like to read, but they are few and far between. It gets hard to justify $20 a year or more for the 1 good article that comes out per issue.