I miss magazines | TheaterFire

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automator3000@reddit

Subscribe to some.

When Covid shut down basically everything, I started subscribing to magazines again. Niche magazines about natural wine, one that was just Motorsport photography, adventure travel, high fashion — there’s a load of stuff out there. It’s something I’ve continued doing. I subscribe for a year, then change up to a different mag the next year.

Of course it doesn’t scratch the same itch as flipping through the racks and grabbing some random issue of a magazine because you know you’re going to be bored on an airplane for the next four hours, but it’s still fun.

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Rattlehead71@reddit

I would spend hours typing in programs from magazines like Compute Gazette, Byte, etc. Flipping through the huge Computer Shopper keeping up on all the latest hardware and software. OMNI, Popular Mechanics were also favorites. I had a huge collection of amateur fan 'zines that were published during the thrash metal / punk scene in the SF Bay Area in the 1980s. Lost those when my parents didn't pay on a storage unit.

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denvergardener@reddit

The whole art of reading is becoming lost.

Yeah, it was always a big highlight when my magazine subscriptions came. Would spend hours consuming every word.

Did anyone else here do Highlights magazine? Lol!

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KNT-cepion@reddit

There was a fantastic shop we often visited that sold newspapers from all over and the widest selection of magazines I’ve ever seen. Such a cool place to browse.

I can’t imagine they survived past the late nineties.

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fireflypoet@reddit

When I was in 6th grade, we moved into a house where a huge stack of National Geographics had been left behind. What a treasure trove! I learned so much reading them. Every school project I ever did featured cut-out pictures from them. They were good for sex education too, as some primitive tribes were photographed wearing little!

My father subscribed to Sky & Telescope and Scientific American, which also taught me a lot.

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retro_lady@reddit

Whenever I went to the store with my mom, I'd hang out in the magazine section.

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FriendRaven1@reddit

Back in high school and until they went digital I loved it. Nothing like reading the car mags.

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mytextgoeshere@reddit

I’ve subscribed to cooking magazines again recently. It’s been great! They only come out 4 times a year, too, so I don’t feel like they pile up too much.

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RightComposer@reddit

Yes I prefer the every 2 or 3 months.

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drone-on-and-on@reddit

Used to buy rolling stone every time I flew

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Western_Lecture_5079@reddit

Rolling Stone was my go-to. I'd take it with me for down time.

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Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit

Some of my favorite books and magazines went digital, then stopped. I actually enjoyed reading.

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Suspicious-Price5810@reddit

I wish the old school music magazines would come back. Circus, Metal Edge, Hit Parader etc. Those were the best.

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flyboy_za@reddit

Mad magazine was my airport purchase of choice.

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RightComposer@reddit

You are not alone. I keep hoping they will make a comeback, as well as other print items. Even stationary and Cards have depleted supplies.

I subscribe to a couple of magazines. Victoria. which is still as beautiful as it was in the 70s, and Cook's Illustrated, which is a great resource for cooking, although not as meat focused as I feel it used to be.

You can still find print magazines, that still exist, at the library. Im interested in history and genealogy, and therefore at least 10 of these. Sometimes you can check out older issues.

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CeBlu3@reddit

I get a computer Magazin from Germany. They also have the online version and of course iPad app that allows offline reading, but they still offer the printed magazine as well. Their official website is www.heise.de (news ticker). I noticed they have started to translate some of their material online into English.

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SamePhotographs@reddit

I miss being able to read magazines. My eyes have changed, and I had to stop reading print unless it was a large print edition. I use an e-reader, and can adjust my text size (like on my phone). New glasses only help so much

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CypressRootsMe@reddit

Same, I have an eye disorder and it’s much easier for me to read on a lit screen. I still read magazines from the library on my iPad.

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SamePhotographs@reddit

I like my kindle screen better - the text isn't lit, but the screen is. In certain light conditions I find my vision doubles. Like driving at night - there are double the lines, signs all have a halo..

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Tim-oBedlam@reddit

I always pick up The Economist on plane flights. Articles are long, dense, and well-written (keeping in mind its center-right perspective).

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HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit

I used to subscribe to The Economist. It would take me all week to read it, because I read it all the way through. IMO one of the best things one can read to keep up with everything. It got too expensive for me to keep subscribing to.

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This-Cartoonist9129@reddit

I only subscribe when they offer 50% off.

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HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit

The only WAY to do it.

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Haunting_Banana_8478@reddit

I wish I was reading one now.

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Fine-Watercress8595@reddit

one of my fondest memories is sitting around with a close female friend of mine and her daughter and looking at trashy magazines with them, fire going, wine, napping in between, I don't think I've ever been so relaxed.

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Alternative_Field_45@reddit

Readers digest is still around

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Holly_Hobbie@reddit

Remember Sassy magazine? That was my favorite as a teen in the early 90s

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BrightAssociate8985@reddit

Tiger Beat, TEEN, Seventeen, Young Miss,

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Holly_Hobbie@reddit

Forgot about YM. I think I subscribed to that one too. I loved Sassy the most for articles about things all my other teen magazines didn’t write about. But I still bought Tiger Beat for those photos of Johnny Depp & Menudo etc!

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BrightAssociate8985@reddit

Bobby Sherman lolz! So dreamy!!

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Simple_Finding9309@reddit

Sassy was the best!

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Emrhm@reddit

And later Jane

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Important_Piccolo@reddit

Loved Sassy!

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LuckyElis13@reddit

I got Vanity Fair for decades, and read Rolling Stone regularly. Both of them have turned into pamphlets. I miss the old ways.

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skatecrimes@reddit

I still get thrasher magazine for 20 bucks + a free tshirt every year.

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robscomputer@reddit

Do you remember Thrasher printed on newspaper print days? It was a like a jumbo zine compared to Transworld full color magazine.

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skatecrimes@reddit

Yep. Shittier paper for sure. But not as bad as Maximum Rock and Roll

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LuckyElis13@reddit

Maximum Rock and Roll felt like a community. I met a lifelong friend through that mag.

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Slight_Stretch_7265@reddit

I miss playboy magazine.....for the articles of course. 🐰

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jbellafi@reddit

Dad?

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PlatformEfficient592@reddit

I miss working on magazines — it was an actual art putting together each one.

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MrsFrufra@reddit

My brother is in the business, too - did book and magazine publishing forever, still does art direction for our state highway department (maps and travel guides). He just started making magazines out of his own artwork for fun - he figured it’s something he knows how to do and enjoys, so why not. Maybe it’ll even find an audience.

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jbellafi@reddit

Me too! I started my career as an intern for small magazine publisher then worked up to art director at a few different places in NYC. It was FUN! And glam with cool perks. I’ve been lucky to have a successful creative career but have shifted away from magazines specifically. I just loved being a part of that world during the height in the 90s & 2000s.

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Ill-Experience-7910@reddit

that's because it's not.

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gg0422@reddit

I still get a few subscriptions. But I never have time to read them. Probably because of the phone Im typing on.

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Emotional-Meal9377@reddit

I keep my old mags in a cupboard and select a few when I’m traveling

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coranglais@reddit

I miss Archie comics in the impulse buy section at the supermarket.

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Frequent_Ice6516@reddit

I get the AAPR magazine and feel a bit defeated every time I see it!

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No_File1836@reddit

I read several magazines these days in the Apple News app.

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Quix66@reddit

Me too. All kinds. I still subscribe to two textile hobby print magazines.

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Quix66@reddit

I get a small loom weaving magazine and a quilting magazine in print.

I too am interested in miniatures but the dollhouse kind not the figurines kind. Those magazines all went digital a few months ago.

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Free-Preparation4184@reddit

I miss print newspapers, I miss magazines. I miss someone not tracking every click, I miss the random stuff you'd learn because it was next to something you wanted to read, I miss the relative sense of trust in what I was reading. I miss the anticipation of waiting for the next issue. I wish we could go back and undo the whole internet. I love some things about tech, true, but none of us worth what we lost.

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NotEasilyConfused@reddit

I miss picking up any random magazine because it was there and I could and it didn't make any difference what it was about.

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FBS351@reddit

For me, they fucked themselves by letting subscription companies do all kinds of scammy shit to get you to re-up. Like sending fake collection letters that were threatening in tone. That's why I canceled my last sub, and that was pre-internet

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Catgirl1972@reddit

My husband got me a subscription to Reader's Digest for Christmas. Literally the first issue came with a "LAST CHANCE! RENEW NOW" letter.

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mcache01@reddit

I miss Spy Magazine… god it was good

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Catgirl1972@reddit

OMG, yes. I felt so sophisticated reading that. Half the jokes probably went over my head, though.

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DisplacedNY@reddit

I miss Bust and Bitch magazines so bad

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Catgirl1972@reddit

I subscribed to Bitch to the end.

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loony-cat@reddit

I used to subscribe to both magazines and miss them terribly.

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meatwads_sweetie@reddit

I miss them, too. I went to Walgreens yesterday and asked for the magazine section. Not only did they not have one, they didn’t sell any magazines at all.

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Catgirl1972@reddit

I was at Walgreens today and they had a small section of magazines.

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fraurodin@reddit

I was just at Walgreens and at the checkout there were only a handful of magazines, mostly special editions and 1 rag. I looked at some covers and also thought how much I miss magazines. I love how strangers around the same time experience the same thing.

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MorningBrewNumberTwo@reddit

Same.

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TrapperJon@reddit

I still get Fur, Fish, and Game delivered every month.

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FzzyCatz@reddit

I miss the days of buying my weekly/monthly magazines, music newspapers, etc and cutting out what I wanted.

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Simple_Finding9309@reddit

I get people and readers digest in print! I don’t even open people most of the time (need to cancel) but I love RD for when I’m traveling. And then I leave it behind for someone else.

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Gisselle441@reddit

I have a subscription to TV Guide magazine and based on the ads inside I'm about 20 years younger than their average reader.

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Usual-Primary-8607@reddit

I get physical copies of The Atlantic, National Geographic and The Week. When I retire I might throw in The Smithsonian and the Sunday NYT.

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JerseyTeacher78@reddit

Nat Geo ftw. Yes. Yessssss.

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JerseyTeacher78@reddit

Yes. I loved and read printed magazines until Glamour went digital. Digital magazines can suck it.

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MysticKei@reddit

....and newspapers; obviously reading aside, after reading was done, there were a lot of uses for newsprint and glossy pages

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PepperCat1019@reddit

I had jury duty and wanted some magazines for the day. I found out the hard way that they are digital. EW

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Katherine1973@reddit

I miss them too and my morning paper

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Remarkable_Insect866@reddit

OMG, I used to live in Ireland, on the weekends, I'd read about 6 or 7 English newspapers which were the size of a Sunday edition of The New York times; unfortunately, English newspapers aren't what they use to be, so I've been told.

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Katherine1973@reddit

I used to love to go to the Barnes and noble on Sunday. They had papers from all over the world. I miss my paper so much. I loved a lazy Sunday morning drinking my coffee and reading my paper. Ireland must have been amazing. I just found out I am about 70% Irish. It was surprising. My dad always told me my great grandparents were French. They couldn’t have been. No French in my DNA most probably they were from Northern Ireland.

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Remarkable_Insect866@reddit

Wow, you should try to get Irish citizenship, or you could study in Ireland; I did, and ended up married to an Irish citizen.

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Katherine1973@reddit

I would love that!! It would be a dream come true. I have always felt a connection there and now I know why!!

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f700es@reddit

3D World magazine and Computer Graphics, loved them

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Jefwho@reddit

I still subscribe to magazines. A few woodworking ones, some brewing ones, and National Geographic. The wife gets some cooking and fashion magazines. Just took a trip and brought a few with me along with a good book to read.

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AccomplishedLine9351@reddit

I still get Sports Illustrated.

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chester219@reddit

Libby the public library app gives you free access to dozens magazines.

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babj615@reddit

The internet ruined EVERYTHING.

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DNSGeek@reddit

I have a PDF subscription to my hobby magazines and every month I copy them to my ebook reader. So whenever I have a few minutes of downtime I just pull out my reader and relax with a good magazine.

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JanaT2@reddit

Yessssssss

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WaterwingsDavid@reddit

I also miss browsing the magazine section in the book stores years ago.

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Legitimate_Egg_2073@reddit

Also they are like $7 or more now 😬

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whiskeygirl@reddit

I finally stopped my Orchids mag in favor of an electronic copy. And that's it, no more magazines.

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RaccoonHaunting9638@reddit

Absolutely!! Loved packing my airport bag with Mags, snacks, lotions, girl thing, and mp3 player and water! This was way before you couldn't bring your stuff on flights.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

I still take Popular Mechanics in magazine form in a subscription, good stuff, generally.

Seems like the car mags have largely died. I used to spend hours with Road & Track, Popular Hotrodding, VW Trends etc. in my teens and tweens.

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Quasigriz_@reddit

Late 80s, early 90s R&T was awesome. I had a Middle Eastern kid, in my high school class outside DC, want to buy the 1991 R&T World’s Fastest Exotics issue off me. He said his dad (possibly some Saudi prince) would buy him one. I only half-believed him….but sometimes I wonder if it ever happened.

Cars featured: Ferrari 255 GTO
Ferrari F40
Porsche 959
Ruff Twin Turbo
Isdera Imperator
Lamborghini Diablo
Callaway Twin Turbo

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

I'd take an F40 today. Analog and brutal!

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Reader47b@reddit

Honestly, I haven't paid for a magazine subscription in well over ten years. They got really expensive at some point and simultaneously less substantial. I used to have 2-3 niche magazines I subscribed to each year, and it seemed worth the money at the time.

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Remarkable_Insect866@reddit

I do as well!; I especially, miss looking thru them at the grocery checkout line, the library, or bookstores. The last twenty minutes, other than the 2 subscriptions I've gotten since my twenties, I don't look for magazines anymore.

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ImMxWorld@reddit

Dude, airport & magazines go together like peanut butter & jelly. I hear you, it's a tradition I really miss.

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Either_Room@reddit

I had a friend who was in the hospital. I just stopped at a gas station thinking I would grab a few magazines. Wrong. Found a couple at a home improvement store and had to go to a adult store to find any girly magazines and they were all dated 5 or 6 years earlier. I know it doesn't matter for the girlie mags but damn that was odd.

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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

Yep. As an adult I subscribed to a LOT of magazines, usually through the NEA because they offered big discounts to teachers. For 25+ years I had 4-6 subs at a time, sometimes more. All sorts of hobby and special interest stuff, from guitars to photography to hunting to history. Then a bunch of news magazines, Newsweek of course, but also the Washington Post Weekly and several others.

All the magazines slowly went to shit (i.e. went to six issues, or mostly ads), shut down entirely, or changed their content. I don't know when it all ended for us, but it was before COVID. I do miss reading them, and the fun of finding a new issue of The Atlantic or Harpers or Rolling Stone in the mailbox.

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paciolionthegulf@reddit

I had a home decorating magazine subscription and that magazine closed so they said the sub would be fulfilled by a sister title. I ended up getting four separate titles in a one-year subscription, the last of which was Architectural Digest. Great photos of lovely houses, but stuff waaaaayyyyy out of my price range (and interest.)

Magazines were limping as ad revenue went down, but I would say it was the 2008 recession that really thinned the herd.

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Utah_powder_king@reddit

I'm going to push back on the premise. I don't think you miss magazines, I think what you miss is the discovery of information, and that type of low key excitement.

There is nothing in those old magazines that you don't have access to right now, in fact you could probably find most of those old magazines right now...

There was an experience with magazines and it happened in a world where information was scarce. That doesn't happen much anymore, unless you're interested in research or subject matter that still has a discovery horizon.

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FREDICVSMAXIMVS@reddit

It's probably more about the format. Something about flipping physical pages is just nicer than scrolling

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Utah_powder_king@reddit

well I think that's all part of the "magazine" experience maybe, but the stories are shorter, the photos are terrible, if we delve into that entire experience with a critical eye there isn't much that was better... I suspect your love of high gloss is more likely to be a justification rather than a desired sensory experience.

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LurkingHorror11@reddit

I run an online magazine. It’s pretty wild to say the least. I don’t think we will ever cross to print, but I’m with you in that I miss magazines in physical form too.

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jennyjenny223@reddit

As someone who formerly worked in magazines….me too.

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BloomiePsst@reddit

The city magazine I used to work for is now no thicker than a pamphlet... sigh.

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Sufficient-Weird@reddit

There are still magazines but now they’re like $10-15. 😱

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Trolkarlen@reddit

And 5 pages long

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Sufficient-Weird@reddit

With 3.5 pages of ads and 0.5 pages of publisher’s ‘welcome’ or something. I really miss good magazines.

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FREDICVSMAXIMVS@reddit

That's what killed magazines for me. When over 50% of the content was advertising, I started to wonder why I was paying for it

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BradBGeek@reddit

Entertainment Weekly was my jam.

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gauriemma@reddit

I still get print copies of The Atlantic.

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Best_Trick4173@reddit

I miss them too.

The experience of going into a retailer and browsing through a huge selection of magazines is something which the internet can't replicate.

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Hopfrogg@reddit

Somewhat related... I miss being a kid and thumbing through that gigantic Wish Book

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PinkyLeopard2922@reddit

About a month before Christmas every year my parents gave us sheets of those little colored metallic star stickers. Each kid had a different color. We would go through the Wish Book and put our color stars on things that we liked. We spent so much time paging through it over and over. I do not remember any of the actual toys we got but remember the planning and anticipation. Great times.

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Hopfrogg@reddit

Wow... your parents were way more creative than mine. I folded the corner of pages that had stuff I wanted. Your way sounds a lot more fun.

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Prudent_Baker_2851@reddit

We weren't that wealthy, but we subscribed to sooo many magazines when I was growing up, especially beginning in junior high. Mostly news stuff like Newsweek and US News & World Report, but we also got Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. Our school library had a bunch of subscriptions mags about bicycles, fitness, news, Smithsonian etc. That's where I first read Rolling Stone. When the SI Swimsuit Issue came, the librarian had a sign-out list.

Last time I was in the local Barnes & Noble, it looked like they still had a big magazine selection, so they're still out there and available.

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peatmoss71@reddit

I get print copies of Vogue and Magnolia at the moment. I was getting Real Simple and Travel and Leisure but have to renew. I love flipping through the pages.

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BlakeMajik@reddit

If you have a library card, I highly recommend using the Libby app, which has a ton of magazines on it (if your library subscribes to that package...many do). Another one is PressReader but it's a bit less common.

Neither provide quite the same experience as a glossy in your hands, but it's not a bad alternative.

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7eregrine@reddit

My actual library has a huge wall of current magazines.

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BlakeMajik@reddit

Same. But OP is in an airport.

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7eregrine@reddit

I get that. Just saying. It's pretty remarkable how many magazines are still being printed. OP is lamenting the overall downfall of magazines, not just at airports.

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BlakeMajik@reddit

Agreed that OP is making some false generalizations that all magazines have been discontinued by the internet.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Apple News, too. Magazines there have the same exact content the print versions do, right down to the ads.

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Jasperblu@reddit

But Libby is free, and Apple News is not. :)

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moneyandmagic@reddit

I miss magazines too. but I still subscribe to two of my favorites, town & country and essence

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Ronniedobbsfirewood@reddit

You’ve got style.

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Adorable_Yak5493@reddit

The advantage to something like a magazine stand or a newspaper, when you peruse it, you may see things you never thought of before that you find interesting suddenly in front of you to read if you wish. With Internet you have to seek it out, and are more likely to seek things you are already familiar with. Hope that makes sense.

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59apache01@reddit

Screens are hard on my eyes after about a hour. They always have been.

I prefer print over digital any day.

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mis_1022@reddit

My library app I can look at thousands of magazines for free.

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TravelerMSY@reddit

You’re in luck. They’re still around.

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Araneas@reddit

I have one bi-monthly subscription to look forward to. I also like browsing the racks at Chapters, until I see the prices - magazines aren't cheap any more, which makes perfect sense with decreased circulation and increased materials costs.

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Thomver@reddit

And newspapers too.

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LonesomeBulldog@reddit

I have one remaining magazine subscription to Mountain Gazette. It’s a large format, dense magazine published twice a year.

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Jasperblu@reddit

That is a GORGEOUS magazine!

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KitchenWitch021@reddit

I was so disappointed when a magazine I subscribed to sent me an email saying it was going digital and the last physical copy had been mailed. I never signed up, like I need to look at screen even more.

I have a hundred Kindle books I never read but I just don’t like reading a book on a tablet. I sound like a grumpy old lady who hates change. Whatever.

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Silver_Daikon6974@reddit

I like loved the auto trader books

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youtalkingtoyou@reddit

This is a conversation we had last night. I miss browsing the magazine racks and looking forward to the latest issue of my favourites. Adbusters was so good.

Would be nice to have some conversations not appear in my feed the next day, though. At least give us the illusion of privacy.

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dab70@reddit

I do too, but not because of the physical magazine, itself, so much as I enjoyed getting mail that I actually asked for versus getting just bills for things or junk mail.

Getting a Sports Illustrated subscription as a kid still qualifies as one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever.

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acecoffeeco@reddit

Subscriptions are cheap. I currently get the Atlantic, New Yorker, cooks illustrated and New York. If you let it go past renew they send a coupon for 50% off. Ends up being a couple bucks an issue and helps keep the industry alive. They just need circulation numbers. My first real job was in publishing so it occupies a special place in my heart.

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Under_the_Milky_Way@reddit

I like having never ending reading material for free on any topic, anytime, anywhere.

Don't miss having to spend money on content curratted by others or buying an issue with only a few interesting articles filled with page after page of ADs.

I also am eagerly awaiting the robot overlords to take over the world so yeah, technology is your friend!

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