The thing is (at least for me): I love love LOVE print. Give me something tangible that I can tuck in my bag and read on a whim. And I wouldn't even mind about the extra cost of print vs. digital **if only the content was any good**
Ladymags, stop regurgitating copy and do something original for women. For once. I might support you again!
I love buying paper magazines and wish what was offered to us was better. I like getting trend reports and new beauty product news mixed with witty, insightful articles. I've let my subscriptions run out, and last month at the airport I leafed through all the ladymags before settling for a single disappointing copy of Elle.
"however great an issue it might be-simply isn't enough anymore." This just doesn't ring true for me. I think lots of women would be excited to buy if more creativity, cleverness, and useful information were in evidence.
Maybe people don't want to read about another millionaire celebrity and her f'ing "fashion" line. Maybe I know where my G Spot is and don't need another article to tell me and my lover how to find it. Perhaps folks no longer care about what makeup Jennifer Aniston uses or what $700 jeans are making Jessica Alba's ass so taut. Maybe, just maybe, the general public prefers to a read a good novel for escape instead of what the Gosselin's or Brangelina are doing? Of course I am just projecting my own aggravation about this, but I hope I am right in some ways.
The thing is, part of what keeps Cosmo selling is that there is always a new crop of young ladies who want the fun fearless female persona it sells, and who kind of don't know how to touch his junk. We were all her once, or we knew her. Then we got older and wiser and moved on to better publications and blogs.
This is why the articles recycle - the readers do. It should be a fairly stable endeavor. Like high school, actually.
@AuntieBee: True. But I also think thats why their sales are starting to decline, kids today are just making more and more use of the web, and online websites are punching in the cosmo formula to attract their readers.
I think they'll bounce back when the economy does. Until we have universal wireless internet - including on trains, subways, buses and airplanes - it's untenable to read mags on a netbook when you're on the go.
However, I think paper glossies will become extinct when the Kindle, and other electronic reading devices, can offer good-quality color reproduction, which can't be too far away. And in that case, women's mags will survive, albeit in a different format.
@hydrogen_jukebox: I work in it too and recently starting taking Web design courses. As hard as it's going to be to learn a new medium (one that I see as less about design and more about right-brained computer programming and language memorization), it won't matter if the industry can't find a way to profit from the Web.
People (myself included) have begun to expect their Web-based information to be free. And changing their minds on that may be impossible. And even if news and entertainment Web sites can begin charging, other sites will pirate the info and offer it for free, which will be hard to prove and expensive to punish.
What scares me most is the cumulative effects of a reduced fourth estate. I don't think we've fully realized how a reduced press will affect government transparency here. But I suppose in regards to lady mags, that's neither here nor there. Fewer weight loss article. *sob*
@JerseyGrrrl: Rest assured there will be a model put in place that will require payment for content eventually. Kindle already charges for subscriptions to the NYT and the New Yorker, among others.
I just find about 99.999% of every ladymag's content irrelevant to me. I mean, I'm a broke grad student who can't afford $80 face cream and clothes that require you to call the designer and ask to find out the price. And so much content seems to be recycled from this time last year; I really don't need to be told, again, what will drive him wild in bed.
On the other hand, if I have a few extra bucks to drop on good photography and original, interesting writing... that's where my money goes.
But..but...Dodai, how DO I touch his junk???? Oh its all so complex. Also, what would I do without Cosmo's sex guides that show little men and women drawings to illustrate doggy style? I WOULD BE LOST.
i'm one of the crazies who stood in line for four hours. i'm not made of money, after all!
i did manage to pick up a mj mix quilted dash shoulder bag ([cooldesignerhandbags.com]). eggplant for me, white for my mom. $150 each, down from $1295. plus two pairs of shoes at 90% off. happy frickin' holidays to me!
@NewsBunny: It's like a button made out of fancy rope or ribbon - one side has a knot and the other side has a loop. Famously used on traditional Chinese garments.
Here are some examples: http://www.sewbizfabrics.com/FC1.shtml
Sounds like the Vivienne Westwood sample sale in London the other week. Viv Westwood handbags from £40... it was hooorrible. Miserable rude staff, elbows eeeverywhere. Got a gorgeous bag though. It was worth it. Just about.
Only problem is, all the hipsters in town got word of the sale, so now my lovely black tank bag with discreet logo has competition. This guy who gets on my bus to work must have splashed out on a similar bag but a size up. I get all embarrassed and hide my bag when he gets on. Or, maybe just maybe he bought his full price. In which case, Ha!
@bleedingmouths: Miserable staff? I worked that sale and I got punched by a 40 year old guy who wanted to look at some ties. I had grounds to be miserable. And it was my birthday.
@miss_cookie: Well I didn't know that, so I did not expect that. I went because a friend invited me. I've been to a lot of sample sales and that one was probably the craziest I've been to. Perhaps I've been lucky.
Getting punched...well... sucks! Sorry to hear that. I got a lot of elbows in the stomach while I tried to peer at the sodding jewellery. My problem was more with the attitude of customers there, but then I tend to get anxious around any crowd. Actually the woman who eventually served me at the jewellery was sweet, and going with a buddy made the whole thing into more of an adventure.
@bleedingmouths: The Saturday was horrific! I had to pull a woman out of a box when people pushed her head first into it. I got called a 'stuck up whore', that was when the punch happened, and people queued for four hours.
One group of women stood in the corner for 2 hours, doing *nothing* just waiting to see if we would get some more felt bags out. Friday was a walk in the park compared!
08/31/09
Ladymags, stop regurgitating copy and do something original for women. For once. I might support you again!
08/31/09
"however great an issue it might be-simply isn't enough anymore." This just doesn't ring true for me. I think lots of women would be excited to buy if more creativity, cleverness, and useful information were in evidence.
08/31/09
08/31/09
This is why the articles recycle - the readers do. It should be a fairly stable endeavor. Like high school, actually.
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
However, I think paper glossies will become extinct when the Kindle, and other electronic reading devices, can offer good-quality color reproduction, which can't be too far away. And in that case, women's mags will survive, albeit in a different format.
08/31/09
But if a side effect of this is that I may see less of this junk around, then so be it. I can always learn Flash and Action Scripting.
08/31/09
People (myself included) have begun to expect their Web-based information to be free. And changing their minds on that may be impossible. And even if news and entertainment Web sites can begin charging, other sites will pirate the info and offer it for free, which will be hard to prove and expensive to punish.
What scares me most is the cumulative effects of a reduced fourth estate. I don't think we've fully realized how a reduced press will affect government transparency here. But I suppose in regards to lady mags, that's neither here nor there. Fewer weight loss article. *sob*
08/31/09
08/31/09
On the other hand, if I have a few extra bucks to drop on good photography and original, interesting writing... that's where my money goes.
08/31/09
12/16/08
*Not really damning this.
12/16/08
12/16/08
i did manage to pick up a mj mix quilted dash shoulder bag ([cooldesignerhandbags.com]). eggplant for me, white for my mom. $150 each, down from $1295. plus two pairs of shoes at 90% off. happy frickin' holidays to me!
12/17/08
12/16/08
12/16/08
Here are some examples: http://www.sewbizfabrics.com/FC1.shtml
12/17/08
12/16/08
Will someone think of them this holiday season?!
12/16/08
12/16/08
12/16/08
Now I don't feel bad about drinking your vodka. And other assorted liquers and liquors.
12/16/08
yeah well, i wouldve absolutely been participating in V.W's sale.
12/16/08
@Miss Smith Drank Your Vodka:
Only problem is, all the hipsters in town got word of the sale, so now my lovely black tank bag with discreet logo has competition. This guy who gets on my bus to work must have splashed out on a similar bag but a size up. I get all embarrassed and hide my bag when he gets on. Or, maybe just maybe he bought his full price. In which case, Ha!
12/16/08
12/16/08
12/17/08
Anyway, discounted Marc Jacobs. I can only hope that I find something marvellous when I hit LA next week.
12/17/08
Getting punched...well... sucks! Sorry to hear that. I got a lot of elbows in the stomach while I tried to peer at the sodding jewellery. My problem was more with the attitude of customers there, but then I tend to get anxious around any crowd. Actually the woman who eventually served me at the jewellery was sweet, and going with a buddy made the whole thing into more of an adventure.
12/17/08
We had a VIP night the day before the public sale which I thought would be calmer, but ugh it was NOTHING compared to the main day.
And yeah I had a lot of strong drinks that night. To be honest by midnight I could barely remember what the black bruise on my arm was for.
12/17/08
12/17/08
One group of women stood in the corner for 2 hours, doing *nothing* just waiting to see if we would get some more felt bags out. Friday was a walk in the park compared!