Digital Magazines? How Do You Read That on the Toilet?

It's no surprise that the field of print journalism is dying quicker than Sum 41's career, and as sorry as I am to say it, we in the punk scene are not immune to it. Last week our monthly issued Bible, Alternative Press, officially started an online version of its magazine. 

Now, even though it's quite cool that you'll be able to access AP virtually anywhere from your iphone, I can't help but think this might be the end of our hardcopy. This has been a trend lately in the industry. We as readers are slowly seeing the downsizing of the industry. A while back Rolling Stone Magazine, famous for its oversized rag, downsized to your normal run-of-the-mill 8.5 x 11 inch sizing.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. Apparently the idea spread around the entertainment industry, and soon enough we saw AP downsizing its very own specially sized magazine. 

They kept going, too. If you were a subscriber of AP before October of last year, you'd know that not only did you get your mag a week earlier than everyone else, but you also got a special subscribers only cover. Well, cross that off your list. In the craze to pinch pennies, AP decided to discontinue subscriber only covers. 

Personally, I think that's a bunch of garbage. Part of the reason I subscribed to AP was for that subscriber only cover. It was always the best looking picture, and was a great collectors item. (And we all know how everyone in our scene is a collector of something or other)

So what's to make of this? I guess we can complain over and over again, but I don't think anything is going to change. Fact of the matter is that we've got to get used to the idea that most likely, within the next few years, most of what we read will be online. 

But it's not all that bad. Hell, you're reading this right now, and... well... you can only get it online. Thanks for checking it out.