Why do we buy magazines in the digital age? Magazines can be incredibly expensive and the articles that are worth reading can be found on the publisher’s website, yet we still shell out our hard earned money on magazines. Most magazines are between $3 and $6 on the news stand and around $2 to $4 if you subscribe.
I only have one paid subscription. For a birthday gift I was given a subscription to the fitness magazines “Men’s Health� which is an exceptionally good read. I believe that the cost of a 1 year, 10 issue Men’s Health was around $30 or $3 per issue. The news stand price is $5.99 CDN so it is about ½ the price and I also get the issue one week before it hits stores. Through a promotion from Diggnation I also get EWeek, Computer World, and from time to time anther random title completely free.
I recently went to the bookstore to look for the latest “Computer World� with Kevin Rose on the front cover. I eventually found out that they do not sell the magazine in Canada. I went online and could read the entire article for free, but I really wanted a hard copy. As a graphic designer I appreciate the work and time that is put into magazines and I have a hard time reading a magazine article in a web browser without any fancy graphics.
Since I am quite young I went straight into the digital music age yet it still feels strange when spending huge amounts of money on non-physical good. I really like having a physical goods and personally I think that some magazines are worth the money. From time to time it’s nice to have a magazine in your lap and sit outside flipping through the pages. Magazines can really take your attention from your work to something else. Go buy a magazine.
Tags: magazines, maxim, menshealth