Do you think your magazine subscriptions would indicate a lot about you? Can you think back to a time when the magazines you read were totally different from the ones you read today? If someone had given me a Mother Earth News magazine 30 years ago, I would have thought they had lost their mind!
Magazines
Most of our subscriptions, we have digital and paper editions. There’s rarely a time when I go to bed with a paper magazine because Vince is usually asleep by the time I go to bed and I can read on a tablet without turning on a light and disturbing him, but also, there are times when I don’t want to carry a tablet with me and haul it around in my purse or leave it in a hot car so I carry a paper magazine with me. Once I’m done reading them, I’ll pass them along to someone else or leave them in a waiting room, and it’s nice to know I still have my electronic copy.
Probably the earliest magazines I remember getting were fashion type magazines, then parenting magazines, then of course, there were quilting magazines .. many years of those. Now, the only magazines that interest me are Capper’s, Mother Earth News and Grit type publications.
Every now and then, I tell myself there’s so much info available on the internet, that magazines are a waste of money, and I let subscriptions expire. Maybe it’s an age thing, having had paper magazines for so many years, that cause me to struggle with letting go of those paper editions. Maybe it’s remembering the excitement of opening the mail box to find a new magazine, and then taking it into the house or out on the porch and reading every page, that keep me having the paper editions coming.
Have you gone 100% electronic or do you still receive some paper magazines/newspapers?
Janna says
I tried an electronic copy on my iPad but just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. I only subscribe to two magazines–Mother Earth News and Real Simple but when we are in Arizona we have our mail gathered by a friend and re-shipped to us–those magazines add weight. Maybe I will try again–any pointers?? I had trouble getting the next magazine every time.
Becky T says
I want the paper in my hand…. I like the feel, texture and weight of the hard copy in book or magazine. I like loaning it to someone and getting it back and loaning it again. I like thumbing thru several issues at a time and comparing notes and ideas.
I have a tablet I got specifically for e books for traveling but if I have a choice I always reach for the hard copy.
Donna says
I like a paper copy of books and magazines. I like the feel, smell and weight in my hand. For some reason it feels more personal to me and I can loan it to finds who will also enjoy it. I can also take it to Mom in the nursing home so she can share it. Some things are just better the old fashion way.
Vickie VanDyken says
Hard to say. I haven’t gone 100% digital but I have gone mostly digital. Those quilting mags were taking over and well I still have them in boxes to “go thru” ?? More and more I think, just give them away 🙂 I always go on to new things, usually so, hmmmmm. Somebody needs to kick me I think to get them gone.
Love the ease and simplicity of the tablet mags. You can print patterns you want but you still have the magazine. A lot more practical….still those boxes??? I think I need help in letting go !!
Sandy says
I have digital versions of books and magazines on my iPad, but I never read them. I like to have the real (paper) book or magazine in my hands to read. I also get a daily newspaper delivered. There is an online version that I could read, but I like my paper version! I can drink my morning coffee, read the news, and do the crossword puzzle or the Jumble with a pen or pencil at my dining table as I’ve done for years and years!
Linda says
Interesting question. I guess I have one foot in and one foot mostly out. I have gone 99.99% digital on books. My e-reader is so much lighter weight to hold and to carry. At my age, that is important. And the prices. But if not for that, I would much prefer “the real thing” in paper. Magazines, I gave up on years ago in favor of the less expensive and more interesting info available on the web. –And your website was one of the first I found that convinced me that I don’t need magazines. I receive one gift subscription each year from a friend who sends them instead of Christmas cards. I enjoy that paper magazine. I read through it and then trash it and think “what a waste of money.” So, on magazines, I am thoroughly digital.
Sherrill says
I just buy quilting magazines and most often only when I’m in Joann’s and something catches my eye. I’ve been trying to weed out the magazines and books and give them to a friend who takes them to her guild.
Chris at the Resort says
Trying to read a magazine on the iPad makes me nuts. I’ve tried several times and just *hate* it!! I’m awed that you have such talent; I can’t find the article I’m looking for, the “page” is too small or not all there, and I get totally frustrated. I’m sticking with paper. On the other hand, I often forego buying new magazines, especially quilting ones, because I have a stack of old ones and I can pick out almost any one and it’s like reading a brand new magazine.
Dot says
i’m about half and half paper and digital for both newspapers and magazines. One trouble with quilting magazines these days is that all of their patterns are provided by the fabric companies to promote a new line of fabric. There’s no new material produced by their own staff. They just aren’t very interesting to a scrap quilter like me, so I’m letting some subscriptions expire. I find better quilt ideas on the Internet. The magazines I’ll keep getting are Woman’s Day, for old times’ sake, and Piecework for its historical articles.
Viki Kirby says
I actually subscribed to Mother Earth News back in the 70’s. One of my very favorite bread recipes that I still use often came from that magazine.
Cindy says
How interesting that you write about this today as I just sent subscriptions off to two magazines this morning! I like the paper copy as I pass it on and I feel like it gets used a lot that way. And the subscriptions are so crazy cheap! I think one of the ones I sent away for today was $10 for a year with a free gift subscription to someone else!
Diana G says
McCall’s, Better Homes and Gardens , Rachel Ray, Quilting , Living. Southern Living and of course Mother Earth. All except Mother are print, as I subscribe to Mother Earth’s blog.
I prefer paper to electronic when in a waiting room, then I don’t have to take my wi-fi with me. Its easier to handle for me anyway -paper .
I still read a good book, read the Sunday paper, Wednesday paper, magazines in the waiting rooms. Even standing in line if there is a good recipe !LOL
Nann says
National Geographic has been always part of my life. I remember it from childhood. It would be inconceivable not to subscribe to it. Smithsonian is a regular, too. When Newsweek changed ownership, then went digital-only we were delighted to discover the Christian Science Monitor Weekly. It is a great newsmagazine.
Because I worked in public libraries for 39 years I had daily access to more than a hundred periodicals. I read magazines at break and on my lunch hour.
I dislike online magazines, though I get a few (via the library). It’s hard to zoom in/zoom out, flip pages.
Dar in MO says
I have stopped almost all subscriptions to magazines because I can’t find the extra time to read them and they do stack up. I get one subscription from a friend as a Christmas present each year and I used to love reading it from cover to cover when it arrived. Guess what – I probably have 3 or 4 issues waiting now still in their plastic wrappers. Too busy with sewing, knitting, gardening and quilting to take time to sit and look through magazines these days. I also have stacks and stacks of old quilting mags that I’m trying to weed through and pass on to another quilter, but that takes time. I don’t have an iPad, so my digital reading is limited to Kindle books from library if I want a digital copy instead of hard book. I guess I still prefer the hard, in your hand type of books and magazines.
Karen says
I prefer paper magazines because they’re easier to read (I don’t have an ipad). I’ve bought a couple digital ones to try but I find I don’t enjoy reading them-and I don’t re-read them. I have cut back on my subscriptions-just Piecework and Primitive Patchwork & quilts. I buy Generation Q and Simply Vintage when ever I find them though.