Many computing periodicals started releasing digital copies of their magazines online when high-speed internet became available.
The online component was a pleasant bonus for times when readers couldn’t just pick up a magazine and start reading, such at work. Those with subscriptions still received their physical copies.
Most computing periodicals eventually started abandoning paper and have online versions.
Instead of producing hundreds of thousands of physical copies, it was simpler and less expensive to publish one copy that all subscribers could view online.
According to Harry McCracken, the number of print magazines in the US eventually shrank to just two: Maximum PC and MacLife. Sadly, the publications have made the decision to shut down their presses.
Maximum PC and MacLife Magazines Debut
In 1996, Maximum PC and MacLife magazines debuted as Boot and MacAddict, respectively. With the release of Maximum PC’s September 1998 issue, Boot changed its name.
Until 2007, MacAddict was known by that name until changing to MacLife with the February issue of that year.
In the computing sector, print media’s collapse was inevitable. Many well-known periodicals had stopped printing by the 2000s and transitioned entirely to digital.
In 1998, Byte stopped printing. After the 2002 demise of Windows Magazine, the succinctly named PC Magazine (now PCMag) released its final issue in 2009. With its November 2006 edition, Computer Gaming World completely ceased operations.
Editor of Technologizer Harry McCracken claimed that even though PC World, where he was employed at the time, was in a suspended state of denial, despite the fact that the writing was on the wall.
“Indeed, the entire computer magazines category spent years in Wile E. Coyote mode,” McCracken wrote last week. “We’d blithely walked off a cliff – it’s just that gravity hadn’t kicked in yet.”
Another significant factor in the demise of computer publishing was print advertising. Advertisers gradually withdrew from print computer publications after realising it was inexpensive and simple to replicate adverts on online pages.
For this reason alone, many physical magazine branches closed. The pub had no hope of competing with the internet for ad space if it had the influence of brands like PC Magazine, Maximum PC, or PC World.
Even the almanac-like Computer Shopper saw a decline in readers, going from around 360,000 in 1996 to only approximately 55,000 in 2014.
Even though many magazines continued to offer magazine-like layouts online, the more user-friendly internet structure we see today finally took its place. Naturally, this also encouraged publications to develop new revenue streams.
Although paywalls are typical for many online publications, they don’t seem to be as widespread in computer and tech journals. Many PC publications have recently improved their advertising strategies and started offering free content.
Others began hybridizing by offering free versions that are ad-supported with a subscription option that removes the adverts.
Keep your last editions of Maximum PC and MacLife if you still subscribe to those publications. When your grandchildren are sorting through your belongings in the attic years from now, they might fetch a respectable price and at the very least be worth the nostalgia.
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