Article 70230 of comp.sys.amiga.misc:
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From: Harv@cup.portal.com (Harv R Laser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: Jason Compton: are mag's dead?
Date: 7 Mar 1995 08:40:17 -0800
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>With the world of the Internet now growing so rapidly that soon virtually 
>all computer users will have access to the Internet, do you think it 
>there will be a shakeout in the computer magazine industry soon?
>
>I know that I personally stoped buying printed magazines for the Amiga 
>sometime last year because I was tired of reading news that was months old.
>
>Reviews on software that I'd allready evaluated on my own and forgotten 
>about.
>
>Just why does it take so long to get a Mag on the stands? Newspapers 
>publish everyday, and mag's like Time are every week, and current to 
>boot! So why are computer mags so slow (and useless)?
>
>
>
>-- 
>John Lange                   Winnipeg Manitoba Canada      lange@mbnet.mb.ca
>
Well, let's start with the economies of scale. Comparing Time to the
typical computer mag is like comaring an elephant to an ant. Do you
have any idea how many copies of Time are printed each week compared
to the typical computer magazine?  Then thumb thru a Time and
look who's advertising in it. Can you say "big bucks"? 

Newspapers are another story altogether. Every time I see a copy of
the L.A.Times plopped on someone's driveway I think about that buildin
downtown with a couple thousand people in it, covering 24 hour
shifts. 

Now.... open Amiga World or Amazing. Look at the masthead. Look at
how many people create the magazine. Then realize that huge 
publications own their own printing plants. Hell, the larger
newspapers own their own forests! (wood->chainsaw->pulp mill->paper).

If you're after ...:::FAST computer news, then the electronic
press is your best bet. Many sites carry Clarinet/Newsbytes for
a fee per month. It's published 3-4 times per week And distributed
in its own usenet newsgroups. 

The larger online services carry other "wires" like AP, UPI, 
and PR/Newswire.

If Jason Compton had a staff of 100 working on Amiga Report he
could probably put out a new issue every day (although it's
debateable as to whether he could find enough stuff to FILL
an issue every day ;)

But those 100 people probably woulldn't want to work for free.
So he'd have to have a sales dept. out there hustling for
ads. And a big enough market to sell ads TO.

The place where computer news ISN'T happening is, oddly enough,
via the medium that is in virtually every American household:
television. There's "Computer Chronicles" carried by a lot of
PBS channels. There's PC-TV and Mac-TV that go over a satellite
feed but aren't available to most folks easily, and that's
about it. General news shows barely ever mention computers
except in stock market reports or if some system-cracker or
kiddie-porn BBS gets busted. PBS is starting a new Internet-
oriented show this week I think but they've done such a good
job advertising it I cant even remember its name. Hopefully
it'll be nuts'n'bolts not just glossy pap like "Beyond 2000."

At any rate, it's hard to get HOT fresh news into a smallish
(say 25,000-75,000 circulation) computer magazine. They don't
own their own printing companies and their jobs have to be laid
out, typeset, and delivered well in advance 'cuz their printer has
many other jobs to print. So a two-three month "lead time" for
articles is typical. 

And magazines are still easier to read in the john than the net is ;)

Harv
harv@cup.portal.com