March 27, 2007

Out of Print

Yesterday's announcement that InfoWorld is discontinuing its print edition is one that leaves me with decidedly mixed feelings. On the one hand, as someone who has been writing and/or editing for InfoWorld for over twenty years, it's pretty devastating to think that soon nothing with the InfoWorld banner will be arriving in my mailbox every week. On the other hand, as someone who moved to the weblog side years a

Yesterday's announcement that InfoWorld is discontinuing its print edition is one that leaves me with decidedly mixed feelings. On the one hand, as someone who has been writing and/or editing for InfoWorld for over twenty years, it's pretty devastating to think that soon nothing with the InfoWorld banner will be arriving in my mailbox every week. On the other hand, as someone who moved to the weblog side years ago, I'm not directly affected and I fully believe it's the right thing for InfoWorld to do. But I think it raises a question for readers, and not just readers of InfoWorld, as to how long the content they value is going to be in print.

I will admit that it's only with effort that I'm resisting the temptation to wax nostalgic about my experiences at InfoWorld and the many outstanding journalists, insightful technologists, and even one or two brilliant business people I've know there. And I reserve the right to do that some other time, but not right now. After all, perhaps InfoWorld's best days are yet ahead of it.

Anyone who has been getting InfoWorld in their mailbox for a while no doubt is not any more surprised than I am that they finally decided it no longer made sense to have a print edition. Given how thin it's been, maybe the only surprise is that it took this long. The action for InfoWorld has been online for some time, and they've decided that's where their business is. And that's decision you can expect many other publications that you read to make in the coming years. And not just computer trade mags, but everything from your local newspaper to scientific journals.

I will share one reminiscence with you, but it's not a warm and fuzzy one. Back in the early '90s, I was the Editor of InfoWorld, so I was the one in charge of the editorial budget, including the Test Center. As part of that, I had a pretty good idea of what our competitors in the IT weekly space were spending. I'm far removed from that now, and I have no inside intelligence on InfoWorld or any of its competitors (or former competitors, since we certainly can't call InfoWorld a weekly anymore). Still, I am relatively certain that the combined editorial budgets of all them today, adjusted for the brief weirdness of the dotcom boom, would only be in the same ballpark of one of the individual publication's budgets back then. And the reason I can be sure of that is you only have to glance at an issue or two of any of them to know they are living with a fraction of the advertising revenue they used to enjoy, and with a fraction of the editorial staff on their masthead.

additional resources
White Paper - How to Improve Delivery of Advanced Web Applications

White Paper

Virtual Workforce: The Key to Expanding The Business While Cutting Costs

Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.

Go inside:
The three-step approach to making a virtual workforce a reality.
The four flavors of client virtualization technologies.
The three key initiatives that solve IT challenges.
Download now »
White Paper: Successfully Secure Your Wireless LAN With Wi-Fi firewalls.

White Paper

Addressing Linux Threats Leveraging Fewer Resources

The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.

Download now »
White Paper - The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

White Paper

The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.

Download now »
White Paper - Is Your Backup System Outdated?

White Paper

Mid-range Storage Considerations

A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.

Download now »

Today's Headlines: First Look Newsletter

Find out what will be news for the day, with our first-thing-in-the-morning briefing.

©1994-2010 Infoworld, Inc.