Magazine Daze

Digital Magazines Are Taking Overr

2009-06-27T22:45:00.003-04:00

No more crankyboots I haven’t posted here for awhile. I was tired of being cranky. All that “When oh when will publishers see the light?” stuff. And “When oh when will they prepare themselves, their staffs, their partners and their readers for the obvious crossover to digital?” Let’s not forget ”When oh when will they realize that the magazine format doesn’t require paper clothing?” Blah. Blah.

Route Cause

2009-01-16T23:29:00.003-05:00

Knowledge@Wharton has delivered just what we need—one more wakeup call for the publishing industry: And no, don’t reach for the snooze button. The report, “Urgent Deadline for Publishers: Find a New Business Plan before You Vanish,” quotes a number of Whartonians from various disciplines. It was published: January 07, 2009. We thank Bob Sacks for distributing it. The lead paragraph sets a tone

The Earview Mirror

2009-01-05T22:29:00.001-05:00

Which would you prefer? The ear half empty or the ear half full? Digital Media Wire Daily reports that 2008 music sales reached 1.5 billion units, beating the 2007 total by 10.5%. This data, which encompasses the sales of songs, albums, vinyl, music videos and ringtones comes from Nielsen SoundScan. According to the article, “Sales of physical albums like CDs fell 20%, to 362.6 million, and

Of Buggywhips and Manifestos

2009-01-03T12:51:00.006-05:00

Two recent posts in Samir Husni’s Mr. Magazine blog are informative, fascinating and unintentionally poignant. The earlier (18 December, 2008) is an interview with Time magazine Managing Editor Richard Stengel. It mostly discusses Time' s 2008 "Person of the Year" selection and issue. Near the conclusion, Stengel points out that this issue did very well on the newsstand and uses this as a

Checking in on the Endangered List

2008-11-06T08:54:00.004-05:00

On the heels of US News & World Report's frequency change to monthly, Media Life's Diego Vasquez interviewed blogger The Grim Reaper, who presides over Magazine Death Pool. (Need we say what material the blog covers?) Ostensible Topic? “Which consumer magazines are the next to fold?” And the discussion looked at the health of the already fragile magazine industry during this current financial

The Punted Word

2008-07-18T20:58:00.003-04:00

And we're back!Associated Press writer Ted Anthony finds much to cheer for in his review of the new anthology 85 Years Of Great Writing In Time (Time Books, 560 pages, $26.95). As the title, imprint and probaby copyright policy indicate, the book is a compilation of pieces that first appeared in Time magazine. Anthony seems to feel that the collection is a good counter argument to the present

DIGITAL, DIGITAL, DIGITAL (AND PORTABLE TOO)

2007-12-27T23:12:00.000-05:00

In his Advertising Age article (“Trends to Watch in 2008”), Bob Liodice, president-CEO of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), follows up on Steve Ballmer’s claim that all media is going digital. He notes the richness of digital features —including the portability — and wonders if marketers are skilled enough to take advantage of this rapidly changing landscape?” We might ask the same

Paradigm Gained

2007-12-24T23:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Holiday! Digital music downloads march on as this Independent article attests.

Australian Bookseller offers Dutch ebook Reader

2007-12-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

The Australia’s Herald Sun reports that bookseller Dymocks is selling ebook reader the iLiad. The device which uses the mobibook format also accommodates a variety of formats including html and pdf. A nice twist to the iLiad is that the screen is touch-sensitive and — with a supplied stylus — you can do such things as Suduko and crossword puzzles, make notations or sketch. It’s a pricey $899

It's Eisie's Birthday

2007-12-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

Today is the birthday of Alfred “Eisie” Eisenstadt, referred to in his 25 August, 1995 New York Times obit as the “quintessential Life photographer. One of a band of Leica-bearing photojournalists, Eisenstadt made some of the pictures that became cultural icons. This was back in the day when magazines, particularly Life were considered mass media. Most notable among these was his

Magazine Hunting Season

2007-12-06T11:41:00.000-05:00

Back on 30 November “Magazine Death Pool” blog’s The Reaper announced that the next 60-90 says are “officially magazine hunting season and” offered these telltale signs. Take a good look. Many ads? Can you get the same stuff easily on the web? Does the content seem pointless? It may be time to start saving back issues as souvenirs of the "good old magazine days." We would add the following: How

A New Kind of Hope

2007-10-24T22:32:00.000-04:00

In his latest “Bo Sacks Speaks Out,” Bob Sacks tells of the plaintive reader requests for good news about the survival of print. He honestly and sympathetically explains that he tries to find positive gems and that he does pass along what he finds. But there isn’t very much.He says: "So in my writings and my daily newsletter, I am offering a new kind of

Digital, Digital, Digital

2007-10-15T22:56:00.001-04:00

Steve Ballmer of Microsoft delivered more than a keynote at the opening of the Association of National Advertisers conference last week. He delivered a shot across the bow of traditional media, including our friend the print magazine. He stated that in 10 years, all media would be digital and delivered over the Net. Advertising Age reported the following: "What if in 10 years we can give you a

Cell Phone Novels

2007-10-03T13:26:00.000-04:00

In Web mag 3:AM Roland Kelts tells about how the recording industry is trying to cope with the downloadable, digital sea change. Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US, suggests the US publishing industry might be in worst shape than the music biz. US book publishers, he suggests, are in denial. He cites as contrast the Japanese embrace of “cell phone novels.

Indicators, Shmindicators

2007-10-03T11:57:00.000-04:00

There’s a simple formula that always helps when writing a blog about magazines. Just start with the phrase, “Samir Husni writes, “ . . .” and then blithely go on to agree or disagree with quoted comment, while adding a riff of your own. What’s the point of being involved with magazines if you can’t be formulaic? So here goes. In yesterday’s Bulldog Reporter’s Daily’ Dog, “Samir Husni writes, “

Finding a Pulse

2007-09-29T22:14:00.000-04:00

The 28 September issue of PDNPulse (published online by Photo Dsistrict News) offers encouraging news to magazines — and I don’t agree with a word of it.It quotes the Economist. To wit: There are good reasons why magazine owners should not feel despondent … many of the pleasing characteristics of magazines—their portability and glossiness, for instance—cannot be matched online. And magazines are

Comments

2007-09-29T18:24:00.000-04:00

It's been a bit since the last post but here I am. again. I thought I might call your attention to two comments about my 24 June post. It's called "SubHub's Super List" and ventures one guess about the future of custom publishing. See below.

CDs and Magazines

2007-08-07T12:04:00.000-04:00

The London Telegraph has a story about the magazine business in its business pages today (7 August 2007). Philip Aldrick reported on declining revenues, at EMI. His lead is "The demise of the CD is accelerating. EMI yesterday revealed that its first-quarter revenues from the music format had dropped by nearly a fifth." Okay, the article is about the recording business, but we should take heed

Good and Bad News for Print from Deloitte

2007-07-30T17:48:00.000-04:00

An Advertising Age article, cited by Bob Sacks, contains some very good news for print magazines; but it also is spiced with a bit of foreboding. The piece ("Who Still Reads Magazines? Just About Everybody" by Brian Steinberg) reports on a study of media consumption by Deloitte Services' Technology, Media & Telecommunications group. The study reveals that while the various generational cohorts

New portable, digital magazine medium

2007-07-27T15:13:00.000-04:00

Texterity has released a new platform to access publications on your Apple iPhone (not my iPhone because I don’t care for one just yet), according to knowledgespeak.com (which covers the scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishing sector. The digital edition readers see emulates the magazine, as published. It’s a beta test and 20 publications are taking part and providing free iPhone

From toys to mags…is it the new convergence?

2007-07-23T16:01:00.000-04:00

Samir Husni, Mr. Magazine, offers the existence of two new magazines --- Barbie and Hot Wheels as proof that print has many days left. He says:For anyone who still doubts the future of magazines, and print in general, here are two new magazines that were launched this year celebrating toys, yes toys…So if a company invests money in an old technology, then that technology is safe? Putting the

Magazine City

2007-07-21T16:45:00.000-04:00

We know two things about the above photo.I should forget about photography as a career. The picture is a metaphor for the print magazine's downfall (and perhaps a snarky photo op).

Kids to Print Media: Well . . . Duh

2007-07-16T22:36:00.000-04:00

Some years ago, while at a magazine industry conference, I sat at a breakfast table with a bright young man who worked for a wholesaler. “Within 15 years,” BYM said, there won’t be any newspapers.” “Sure there will,” I said. “We just don’t know what form they’ll take.” As it turns out we both may be proven right. The New York Times reports that “Only 16

Er-uh-excuse me. The ship is sinking.

2007-07-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

Bob Sacks reports back from the Periodical and Book Association of America(PBAA) meeting. He and Samir Husni had a stimulating debate. There were some thoughtful and hope-inducing presentations. But there also was a shocking supply of self-destructive conventional wisdom. It was as if some industry people thought it okay to steer through the icebergs. Apparently there was a supply chain panel

SubHub's Super List

2007-06-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

SubHub is stating a simple truth about digital publishing when it compares conventional printing on paper to the Internet. The lessons are here not only for conventional publishers but for custom publishers as well. Custom publishers — companies that create and manage publications (i.e. marketing tools) for nonpublishers — are an esteemed part of our community. They provide service,

Felix Dennis on Editing

2007-06-20T21:06:00.000-04:00

The sale of Dennis Publishing's Blender, Stuff and Maxim US editions pretty much takes a sharp mind out of the U.S. publishing biz. A snapshot of how Felix Dennis thinks can be found in a report I wrote for the Spring 2000 issue of Magazine Retailer. It goes a little something like this. On December 2, Felix Dennis of Dennis Publishing was the luncheon "entertainment" at a meeting of the

The Meaing of Magazines

2007-06-15T20:11:00.000-04:00

As we ponder the magazine’s fate, it’s kind of fun to look at the first time the word was defined. We take you now to A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson. A magazine, sayeth the good doctor is: A storehouse, commonly an arsenal or armoury, or repository of provisions. Of late this word has signified a miscellaneous pamphlet, from a periodical miscellany named the

Learning From Magazines

2007-06-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

In his blog, the Inksniffer, veteran British journo/international consultant John Duncan talks about what newspapers could learn from magazines. My God, man, haven’t papers suffered enough? Actually he was reacting to a speech about “The Magazine in the Age of the Internet” that Canadian corporate exec Isabelle Marcoux of Transcontinental Inc. gave on 6 June at Mags University Conference. And

Don't Get Me Wrong

2007-06-06T17:19:00.000-04:00

Don't get me wrong. I love magazines.And to be honest I love print. Or maybe I've been indoctrinated since birth about the eternal life of print that I stammer and shiver at the thought of a (-gulp-) world without print. (A chorus, if you please, of "Gimme That Old-Time Religion.") No matter. Print is dead.But back to my magophilia. Fern Siegel's witty review of Bookmarks magazine in MediaPost

2007-06-05T23:01:00.000-04:00

Okay, I have a flair for the obvious. (Why else would I have felt at home in magazines?) So here’s my two cents. The magazine industry’s current hell only starts with cultural tsunami stirred by the Web. Yes, there’s been a migration of eyeballs to the Web. Yes, there’s been a migration of advertising to the Web. And

How do you like them peanuts?

2007-05-23T21:12:00.000-04:00

If the medium is the message, then clearly BusinessWeek is declaring "come fly with me." According to Advertising Age, the McGraw-Hill business title is partnering with Brand Connections to put ads and BW columns on airplane table trays. Now if only they could find a way to put some food on those trays. I guess we can expect a magazine industry study that shows table trays will not replace

Et tu, Pecker?

2007-05-22T22:16:00.000-04:00

In his Ad Age "The Media Guy" column, the ever insightful Simon Dumenco uses the Ron Burkle purchase of the Primedia enthusiast group to make a point: What's wrong with magazines? Look at executives within the industry. Or as he puts it "the print-media industry is not only filled with f--k-ups, it coddles them." He hopes that Burkle, a newcomer to publishing might come in with less baggage

Newspapers Here to Stay?

2007-05-18T10:08:00.000-04:00

A new report from the World Association of Newspapers sets "the record straight" on questions about the "relevance, vibrancy and future vitality of newspapers in this fast-growing digital age." Glad that's settled. Of course we'll always have newspapers. And we'll always dial our phones and type our copy.

Backing Up Is Hard To Do?

2007-05-01T09:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, I don’t back up my files nearly enough (if you consider never to be not nearly enough). Still, Business 2.0 has made it a point to remind the world that backing up is a wise policy. So,when the magazine’s system crashed in the midst of production, salvation came in the form of an unlikely ally — the lawyers. Here’s the story.

2007-04-24T17:45:00.000-04:00

Tell people the print magazine is dead and you’ll get one of two responses. 1. Nonsense!This Chicago Tribune article (registration required), for example, cites the tactile, portable virtues of paper. 2. Tell me something new. Reluctantly, I’m in the second camp. The structures that have served magazines so well for so long are, shall we say, challenged. Cheap subscriptions, advertising