Comments on: I heard the news today, oh boy… https://habitablezone.com/2019/03/28/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2019/03/28/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/#comment-43174 mcfly Fri, 05 Apr 2019 01:14:31 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=76453#comment-43174 I loved that magazine and learned a lot from it. Then Astronomy magazine came out and, imho, bested S&T in the eye-candy department. To a young amateur, great articles and images can be very inspiring. I’m saddened but not surprised by the changes to the publication that you describe. I’ve watched the same happen to history-related magazines. Advertisements dominate and it seems that quality writing will be included only when it can be made to fit. I wonder how many young people, looking for information and inspiration, fail to find it in what these magazines have become. I loved that magazine and learned a lot from it. Then Astronomy magazine came out and, imho, bested S&T in the eye-candy department. To a young amateur, great articles and images can be very inspiring.

I’m saddened but not surprised by the changes to the publication that you describe. I’ve watched the same happen to history-related magazines. Advertisements dominate and it seems that quality writing will be included only when it can be made to fit. I wonder how many young people, looking for information and inspiration, fail to find it in what these magazines have become.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2019/03/28/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/#comment-43173 ER Thu, 04 Apr 2019 14:19:34 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=76453#comment-43173 but professionals used to read it to keep up with developments outside their own specialty. It served a community of like-minded individuals. Now it is primarily a vehicle to sell eyeballs to advertisers, and not all of those advertisers cater to the "space nerd community". They are now selling non-science merchandise and services to affluent people who have demonstrated their affluence by being able to afford astronomy equipment, publications and software. I've seen the same thing happen in other hobbies I have been active in; boating magazines, the shooting sports, nature publications and in the automotive press. Old and established media run by people who love their subject matter and with devoted and loyal readerships are being taken over by big publishing conglomerates who don't care about astronomy, sailing, firearms, conservation or sports car competition. These magazines are no longer villages where the aficionados can meet, they have become machines for generating revenue, run by managers who care about nothing but accumulating revenue. And when these organizations fall apart due to greed or mismanagement, they drag their fiefs down with them, no matter how productive they may be. Sky and Telescope is not in financial trouble, it has had to make adjustments, as have all magazine publishers, but they still have devoted readers and advertisers and good local managers. S&T is not in trouble, its holding company is. We are approaching the final, decadent, cannibalistic stage of Capitalism. Marx predicted it over a century ago. but professionals used to read it to keep up with developments outside their own specialty. It served a community of like-minded individuals. Now it is primarily a vehicle to sell eyeballs to advertisers, and not all of those advertisers cater to the “space nerd community”. They are now selling non-science merchandise and services to affluent people who have demonstrated their affluence by being able to afford astronomy equipment, publications and software.

I’ve seen the same thing happen in other hobbies I have been active in; boating magazines, the shooting sports, nature publications and in the automotive press. Old and established media run by people who love their subject matter and with devoted and loyal readerships are being taken over by big publishing conglomerates who don’t care about astronomy, sailing, firearms, conservation or sports car competition. These magazines are no longer villages where the aficionados can meet, they have become machines for generating revenue, run by managers who care about nothing but accumulating revenue. And when these organizations fall apart due to greed or mismanagement, they drag their fiefs down with them, no matter how productive they may be.

Sky and Telescope is not in financial trouble, it has had to make adjustments, as have all magazine publishers, but they still have devoted readers and advertisers and good local managers. S&T is not in trouble, its holding company is.

We are approaching the final, decadent, cannibalistic stage of Capitalism. Marx predicted it over a century ago.

]]> By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2019/03/28/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/#comment-43172 mcfly Thu, 04 Apr 2019 04:13:45 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=76453#comment-43172 OK, even a cursory reading of that line reveals that it fails to mention the space nerd community. Or are astronomers now "outdoor enthusiasts?" OK, even a cursory reading of that line reveals that it fails to mention the space nerd community. Or are astronomers now “outdoor enthusiasts?”

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