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Ars's Skeptical Take on Wired's NextFest

Posted by timothy on from the everyone's-a-critic dept.

jamestech writes "Over the weekend, Wired magazine held its 'NextFest' in Chicago, a demonstration of what the future supposedly holds. Arstechnica's Hannibal visited NextFest, and was not impressed. Regarding a dolphin-shaped water vehicle and exoskeletons for the old, he notes, 'if you're being pursued by a senior citizen then you can use the dolphin to escape.' Wired's been more about style rather than tech since the late 90s, but have they finally dropped science in favor of science fiction?"

2 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Eye Candy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wired has been more eye candy than anything else as long as I've read it

  2. Re:Wired is Tired by billmil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IMO Wired is the "popular science for a new generation." Now that it's recovered from its New Economy religious fervor (circa 1999), it's quality has IMHO dramatically improved: the articles are (mostly) sensible and high quality and they've upped the gagdetry reporting. It's the place to go to see "what's new." ("what's new" is a longstanding feature of Popular Science).

    Yes, the "Tired vs. Wired" tastemaking stuff is passe, but for .80 US dollars an issue, it's very cheap. (And the $10 NextFest admission included a 12 month subscription). I think it's a lot of fun per buck.