Magazines - does anyone bother?

ancapailldorcha

Found myself browsing the subscription options for The Economist yesterday only to realize that I hadn't bought a magazine in years, the last one being a copy of New Scientist in 2013.

What about ye? With most news being free online, does anyone here pay for regular publications?

hidinginthebush

I think the only time I buy one is to have something to flick through on a long flight.

sbsquarepants

I subscribed to time magazine a couple of years ago basically because it was cheap and I wanted something other than a bill to come through my letterbox. It's very US centric and can be a bit hit and miss, but when it's good it's very good.

Ste-

Nope, I get my porn on the internet now.

Harry Palmr

Can't remember the last magazine I bought or when its that long ago.

Hande hoche!

Occasionally pick up one to read on the bus.

Magazines are for long-haul flights, preferably bought in places without crazy tax. I buy a lot of fashion and interiors magazines when I'm in airports, but never otherwise. I like the bit of escapism and the delusions of grandeur they give me.

Luckily the effect only lasts as long as I'm in the air.

hmmm

I'd stopped until I found 'Readly', mainly because they were too expensive. Now I read a lot.

kneemos

Surgeries are full of them,somebody must.

The Backwards Man

Last was probably Viz in the mid 90s

Stheno

I occasionally buy one if it has a good freebie

NachoBusiness

Used to buy GQ and Esquire in my 20s but the male models in the after shave adverts were so overly airbrusheded that I began to hate myself and eat far too much ice cream to numb myself from the pain of inadequacy. So, after a few years of that happening when I bought them, I just knew it was time to admit defeat, cancel my subscriptions and accept that these ideals were unobtainable for me. I've come to be quite proud of my lack of muscle tone and pigeon chest now. I'm a real man dammit.

Aimead

I have sub to Linux Voice, but I have to admit that is more due to wanting to make a contribution to causes I like than wanting to have the magazine itself (which releases its content for free 6 months after publication).

For me the biggest downside to the traditional magazine is that it is more cumbersome to check questionable claims. Has anyone else ever read an online article and seen it make a claim or state a fact that made you call bull****? You no longer have to take an article’s word for something anymore, and can do a quick fact-check then and there.

whomitconcerns

i have subscriptions to US editions of wired and GQ at about 50$ each for the year. Also the New yorker, its weekly and a great read. Cant go wrong and very handy for flights

hmmm

hmmm wrote: »

I'd stopped until I found 'Readly', mainly because they were too expensive. Now I read a lot.

Thank you for posting that, I'm going to sign up for a trial. I never knew it existed.

hidinginthebush

Just remembered I had a subscription to National Geographic a few years back. It was really enjoyable to read, and as said above, nice to get something apart from bills in the mail. Also the subscription was pretty cheap, maybe €30 for the year? Been thinking about setting it back up again.

ixoy

I use Zinio to get them delivered to my tablet. It's far cheaper than the print edition and less bulky obviously.

LDN_Irish

I had a subscription to The Week for a few years until moving back to Ireland. Not really sure why, I was reading news online every day and then recapping it all when the magazine arrived but it's fairly politically neutral and we'll written so it's probably worth it.

ScumLord

I only really buy magazines when I'm traveling. Usually a science magazine but the last time I traveled I got a good history magazine.

Reoil

I always buy at least one before flying anywhere. Usually tech-related.

BlaasForRafa

hidinginthebush wrote: »

Just remembered I had a subscription to National Geographic a few years back. It was really enjoyable to read, and as said above, nice to get something apart from bills in the mail. Also the subscription was pretty cheap, maybe €30 for the year? Been thinking about setting it back up again.

I've had a National Geographic subscription for the last 10 years or so, the latest issue just arrived today as a matter of fact. The subscription cost is about €45 per year now but with the quality of writing and photography it's still good value.

I get a bunch of other magazines regularly in the shops too, Aeroplane, Flypast, Classic Rock Prog, Zero Tolerance, Retro Gamer, Jack Kirby Collector, Back Issue, Cinema Retro. When it comes to niche subjects magazines can be good places for interesting articles.

ancapailldorcha

hmmm wrote: »

I'd stopped until I found 'Readly', mainly because they were too expensive. Now I read a lot.

That's a Netflix for magazines is it?

cloud493

I read a newspaper, and 3 different gaming magazines, all with subscriptions.

tietambrown

Torrent a big batch of magazines every month, just to have something casual to read on the bus. Buy the Big Issue off a girl outside Dunnes on Georges Street too, mainly cos I sold it myself in London in the 90's.

Ruu

Still have a 'Shoot' subscription. :cool: Have Zinio as well.

Turtyturd

Never subscribed to any but used to pick up wrestling magazines fairly religiously when I was younger, internet has pretty much killed them off now.

Nowadays I pretty much browse through them in Eason and if something catches my eye I will download it, mainly gaming/tattoo magazines.

RomanKnows

I buy the Viz Annual at Christmas time for some light and amusing reading while sitting on the throne. It has all the best bits from the magazines throughout the year.

Conall Cernach

Nowadays there has to be a free tank or model plane etc. to get me to buy a magazine so I usually end up with issue 1 or 2 of "Tanks, tanks tanks" or "World War 2 Fighters in Miniature" for €1.99 and then forgetting about it when it goes up to 9.99 or whatever the regular price is.

Robsweezie

hidinginthebush wrote: »

I think the only time I buy one is to have something to flick through on a long flight.

or when you're hiding in that bush for god knows what reason, you might need some fap material

razorblunt

I used to buy a monthly magazine of adverts which had some okay articles every few pages.
Esquire, I think it's called.

Flicked through one today in the barbers, they had a page on "flight comfort, even if you dont turn left on a plane you should still be comfortable. Their list of items:

1. Blanket ~£195
2. Neck pillow ~195
3. Moisturizer £70
4. Pyjamas £300
5. Earphones £390

I mean come one.

Another page was for festival jeans, recommending white ones for £190.
Clowns.

Saying that I do tend to buy a couple for flights.

OldGoat

My much missed Omni magazine is back as an online read. Whoooop!
https://omnireboot.com/

I have subscriptions for NatGeo, New Scientist, Locus, Empire and Q. Apart from those I'll pick up photography magazines depending on content that month.

Lollipop95

I'm 20 and buy magazines quite regularly. I buy Inside Soap (all the gossip from the soaps and contains interviews with cast members) every week and have been doing religiously since 2007!

There'll always be a need for magazines imo, I'd be shocked if they were no longer available. There's a huge target market audience for them. If there wasn't such a huge demand for them then they wouldn't be sold in any big or small supermarket/newsagents/shops.

With that being said, I've never subscribed and never will - don't see the point

DEFTLEFTHAND

Womens magazines like Hello and OK still sell hundreds of thousands of copies each week.

Personally I hardly ever buy one anymore unless at an airport or railway station, it will usually be something music orientated like Q.

ScumLord

OldGoat wrote: »

Apart from those I'll pick up photography magazines depending on content that month.

The photography magazines are fine to get every so often, they typically tell the Same story each month in a different way. I can't remember which one does it but they bring out an end of year edition with all the best stuff/tutorials from the year. It's big and expensive but with the price of those magazines and the repetition it's probably a much cheaper and more useful edition.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Have a subscription to Time.

I actually find it easier to read an article in print, whereas I get distracted and impatient with digital.

Men's Vogue was pretty good. I'm surprised it was taken from circulation, given how second and third fiddles, like GQ, have survived.

GQ is alright.

I read Men's Health at my Dentist's and nick the occasional Horse & Hound from a friend's car. I probably haven't bought a magazine in over a year (the last being the hideosly overpriced Monocle) The only magazines I can't stand are Hello! and The Economist.

CatLou

I buy the Wired magazine every couple of months - US or UK edition depending on which seems more interesting. NatGeo too if I'm in the mood.

For longer flights I like to pick up the Courrier International, lots of good articles on current affairs.

ancapailldorcha

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Men's Vogue was pretty good. I'm surprised it was taken from circulation, given how second and third fiddles, like GQ, have survived.

GQ is alright.

I read Men's Health at my Dentist's and nick the occasional Horse & Hound from a friend's car. I probably haven't bought a magazine in over a year (the last being the hideosly overpriced Monocle) The only magazines I can't stand are Hello! and The Economist.

What's wrong with The Economist?

jonnny68

i like four four two but the price of it here €7 odd is scandalous so don't bother, same as GQ, Esquire and some of the gentlemans magazines vastly overpriced so i couldnt be arsed, once in the blue moon will i buy a magazine now.

jonnny68

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Womens magazines like Hello and OK still sell hundreds of thousands of copies each week.

Personally I hardly ever buy one anymore unless at an airport or railway station, it will usually be something music orientated like Q.

dreadful magazines but plenty of birds are into looking at celebritys and dreaming they were like them,etc, personally id sooner watch paint dry than read any of those crap womans magazines.

_Brian

National Geographic.. Have annual subscription.

Snickers Man

Still get the Phoenix most times. There's always something interesting in it but it's a bit flimsy. Lots of padding.

jonnny68

_Brian wrote: »

National Geographic.. Have annual subscription.

i do as well and i got it on special offer for the whole year for 9 pounds sterling so cant pass up an opportunity like that, very good informative magazine with some excellent photos.

BMJD

I used to buy car magazines quite a bit but they are just too expensive to justify anymore. I pick up the odd one or two for a flight or holidays.

Aidric

I don't have a subscription but I buy The Economist quite regularly. It's a really great digest of world affairs and often has good special supplements.

In my early twenties I used to buy GQ regularly but these days its a shoddy publication.

OldGoat

ScumLord wrote: »

The photography magazines are fine to get every so often, they typically tell the Same story each month in a different way. I can't remember which one does it but they bring out an end of year edition with all the best stuff/tutorials from the year. It's big and expensive but with the price of those magazines and the repetition it's probably a much cheaper and more useful edition.

Most hobbiest mags are the same. There is a limited few aspects to the hobby/sport and those main topics get rehashed again and again every couple of years, usually in the form of "Top ten tips to get the best from your...".
Still, we only buy them for the ads anyway.

My new NatGeo arrived in the post yesterday.

ancapailldorcha

Does anyone here read The Economist actually?

whomitconcerns

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Does anyone here read The Economist actually?

used to get it. Its quite good. Better than most news magazines.

sunnysoutheast

Conall Cernach wrote: »

Nowadays there has to be a free tank or model plane etc. to get me to buy a magazine so I usually end up with issue 1 or 2 of "Tanks, tanks tanks" or "World War 2 Fighters in Miniature" for €1.99 and then forgetting about it when it goes up to 9.99 or whatever the regular price is.

.....or you battle on to the bitter end of a "partwork" and suddenly realise that you've spent £3000 on a six foot long model of the Bismarck, and have to move it off the kitchen table.

I subscribe to Private Eye, only about £30 a year.

Used to subscribe to The Economist, but went off it a couple of years ago.

ancapailldorcha

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

What's wrong with The Economist?

It has a very boring editorial bias that panders to opinions that its readership already holds: it never challenges orthodoxy, which for an economics publication, would be depressing and bewildering. But The Economist is not an economics publication in any real academic sense. It's a news magazine with some principles of Freshman Economics thrown in.

ancapailldorcha

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

It has a very boring editorial bias that panders to opinions that its readership already holds: it never challenges orthodoxy, which for an economics publication, would be depressing and bewildering. But The Economist is not an economics publication in any real academic sense.

My knowledge of the publication is that it has a strong pro free market bent but that's about it.