It's pretty astonishing, really, how print went from running the show to being outcompeted by the convenience and flexibility (and price!) of digital, to again being preferable. Wonderful!
Maybe this just reflects my life cycle (poor teenager/student -> young professional) but 10-15 years ago I would never pay for a print magazine if I could find the content online and read it on a screen.
Now I can't wait to get off my screen and deeply dive into something interesting. Print becomes a luxury, a way to focus entirely on the content -- without the possibility of opening a new browser tab and checking something (bitcoin price?! What's on SN?!).
Amanda Hull in the Bloomberg piece:
The old model of print is certainly gone, along with the massive circulation numbers and cultural ubiquity that the format enjoyed before the internet upended media and left us with supermarket-checkout-line gossip rags and “bookazines” of low-carb recipes.
The readership of these magazines isn’t exactly a cross section of America; they’re disproportionately affluent and well-educated people who are generally willing to pay up for things they think are fancy or high quality or sophisticated.
Archive link here: https://archive.md/4S9Xk
What'cha all think? Which print magazine do you read?
ed.: added quote:
In this way, print magazines free all sides of the media economy from some of the things people commonly dislike most about reading online. There’s no algorithmic intervention serving things up to readers, no paywalls that refuse to remember your password, no constant bids for your attention crowding the edges of your screen.