Let them eat mags

BW started a new Social Networking site called Buisiness Exchange.

Like many such things it starts with a fever of posting, by editors mostly, and then we find a bunch of orphaned threads. I dont chortle over this. My 'heart goes out' to the editors because I been there. But BX is in the after birth doldrum.

A thread I subscribed to is the one on the mag biz. Will let it speak for itself:

The magazine industry is being shaped by forces largely outside its control, from technology and demographics to economics. Are magazines dead?

Caught the drift of a thread and commented. Actually it was a one hit wonder pointing to Observer.com. Magazines Are Turning Into Luxury Objects, Says James Truman. And while the article has some bland assertions, it does seem true that, say, if you are on a plane, the magazines being read look like rich folks stuff, like cigars in the Wall Street Era.

My comment was..

The idea that there are fewer magazine in not insensible. That they will have less utility is a more contentious assertion. Make has done well. Real Simple too. Magazines as a way to improve your life style has a place. To dream of a better life too, especially when you are at the airport.

http://bx.businessweek.com/magazine-industry/
http://www.observer.com/2008/media/magazines-are-turning-luxury-objects-says-james-truman