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is amongst the most accessible (easiest to understand) general coverage science magazines. Scientific American is amongst the least accessible of this type imo. The zinio http://zinio.com/ subscription to New Scientist is less than half the shelf price, and can be read on your computer or an ipad (don't know about other e-readers)

I can't be sure based on your description, but I *think* it's already been done. Check out Zineo.

The pages turn, it's really "magazine-like." Very good looking, very familiar. I read quite a few magazines using it. The subscription update mechanism is pretty clever, too.

The only downside? Centerfolds. :) Just not enough monitor space on most desktops.

Is Dr. Dobb's going to the same digital format as PC Mag? Here's a free trial, which shows you the last issue of PC Mag. I understand the idea is to placate current subscribers, because keeping it in the same format makes the change less severe. I know I get used to consistent magazines layouts, so this makes sense. But I don't know about the implementation; it feels like a zoomed out PDF to me. And if you want to zoom in, you have to go to 200% -- there is nothing in between. That doesn't feel natural to me and in fact, I find it next to impossible to read. Anyone actually like this format?

Paper may be archaic, but I already spend enough of my day in front of a computer. I personally like to be able to read the hard copy.

Beyond less strain on the ol' peepers, it's nice to be able to get away from the computer. With the online version, it might not be DRMed, but I certainly can't easily take it with me wherever I go (sure, I can print things out, but that format is still less than ideal for me).

I agree that the online version might be great for some, but I'm not one of those people. And I've tried NewsStand and Zinio as well as the online versions of many papers.

Beyond what I've mentioned already... For my taste, the screen is too small a device for the display of articles. With a paper, I might have to turn a page once or twice.... with NewsStand and Zinio I found myself doing a constant 'pan and scan'. Online articles required too much scrolling and clicking of 'next'.

I'll stick with the dead tree format (I recycle, mind you), but agree that a paper specifically formatted for display on-screen might be a good thing.

...with Zinio , which gives you the exact duplicate of their printed page, with a kind of a pdf format which zooms in and out to fit your screen (handy for laptops). Some major magazines such as Business Week, PC Magazine and others are available; free samples are available.

Right, because the government won't bail them out if they suddenly find that they have to raise the price an objectionable amount. You yourself just said that you would find anything over $0.40 objectionable which is not that far off. What happens when some other flakes decide to spread anthrax and the post office decides it should now cost $1.40 to mail things so that it can all be more secure? Just like what the airlines fell into after 9/11. Welcome to tax subsidized service, now with 50% less service. Flying these days is like visiting the DMV!

Seriously, is there anything circulated by standard bulk mail these days that cannot now be done through email where it can be distributed much more cheaply and can be discarded more easily? How much of our infrastructure is dedicated to paying for automobiles and their gasoline for sending around flyers about new mortgage rates, pre-approved credit cards, and a sale down the street, the very things we are up in arms about in SPAM? I know not everyone has a computer or can afford good Internet service, but what I would give to get my bills and maagzines on time (see Zinio.com for online magazine distribution where I have received my Eweek mags). I already pay bills online, why not do everything else that way? Paper is so 2002.

And have been pretty happy with it. It uses the Zinio Reader and is pretty functional. Links are clickable, which is really nice in a magazine of this ilk. It's bookmarkable, searchable and you can write notes on it. The only complaint I've got is that it's too faithful to the paper version. It includes all those annoying subscription and other business reply cards and they have to be turned like any other page.