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Sys Admin Magazine Ceases Publication
keithl writes "I received a postcard in the mail today informing me that Sys Admin magazine has ceased publication. 'We regret to inform you that the magazine has ceased publication effective with the August 2007 issue.' Only paid subscribers with remaining issues receive this mailing. If you do nothing, they will send you a copy of the Sys Admin archive CD (1992 – August 2007), or you can return the card for a full refund of all unsent issues. The deadline to return the postcard for a refund is October 1, 2007." The magazine's Web site has no word that I could find on the closing down of print publication.
Magazines simply can't compete with the interactivity and frequency of websites and blogs. The model is dying so all special interest magazines are feeling the pinch.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
...bad idea.
http://www.magazinedeathpool.com/
...that sucks. I hadn't heard anything about this. I actually subscribe to this magazine, and find (check that, found) it very helpful. I think if they had developed a way to digitally copy/paste text from the paper to my application, that would have save them. So many times I have said 'this code is really great. I'll just select it all and...oh wait... DAMMIT!'.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
But never bought it because all the issues I saw were like double issues in a plastic sleeve, so I could never check out the content. Pity, it looked interesting but not enough by just reading the cover.
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
This was mentioned in a little blurb in the August 2007 edition; I guess a lot of people may have missed it if they're sending out postcards (I didn't notice it until the second time I thumbed through the magazine). From the looks of it, they won't be simply switching away from a paper format, but just ending the magazine all together.
Kind of a bummer, I've been reading it for years -- since before I actually started my career as an SA and was only tinkering with BSD and this newfangled Linux thing...
I don't know about that. I'd typically buy Linux Journal. Sys Admin felt almost like a weekly, although side-by-side I'd say Sys Admin was actually the better magazine (but Linux Journal caters to a wider audience..). I think Sys Admin simply missed the boat by not jumping onto the Linux bandwagon. Too bad, I always meant to get a subscription so I wouldn't be lured by the beefier Linux Magazines (with their end-user content, soft surveys and advertising).
Quack, quack.
The editor put the news in the final issue as well, which was mailed out a couple of weeks ago. I'll be looking for my postcard now though - thanks for the heads-up!
While it's true that printed media has a hard time competing with online resources, SysAdmin was one of the few magazines I looked forward to reading cover to cover each month, so I'm sad to see them closing up shop.
It's nice to have information "pushed" to you sometimes; I learned several things over the years on topics I probably would never have gone looking for on my own.
I've often wondered why magazines aren't formated for the different levels of expertise. Why not have the first 1/3'rd of the magazine devoted to beginner articles. The 2nd devoted to intermediate articles and the last 3rd devoted to expert material?
That way you'd appeal to every range in your audience AND your magazines would be worth keeping.
Death of Sys Admin Magazine was quietly announced on june 13. by the parent company, CMP, in a subsentence.
http://cmp.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1722
A few days later, I got a polite letter saying they wouldn't be needing the article I'd proposed for publication.
"My defunct publication list (all of which I still have),"
(extensive list)
Sounds like having you as a subscriber is the magazine equivalent of the "click of death!" Could you do us a favour and subscribe to all those *wonderful* government publications, like tax notices, etc? And Bush's speeches?
Kevin Smith on Prince
i used to subscribe to this magazine. reading it was by far my favorite way to enhance my IT knowledge--something i need to do daily in this industry.
i stopped my subscription when i decided to stop paying for dead tree media--an ecological decision.
i contacted the Sys Admin publisher and told them many many times that i was willing to pay *twice* their subscription price if they would make the magazine available digitally because i did't want a dead tree version. they told me in many different ways, no can do.
i'm not kidding when i say i contacted them many times and "climbed the ladder" speaking to various higher-ups. everytime i was met with what i would describe as a lack of vision. i was given every reason in the book as to why offering Sys Admin digitally via the internet would kill their revenue stream. unbelievable to me in the face of me telling them that i was willing to them pay double their subscription price (heck, i probably would have paid more).
imho, Sys Admin had a chance to become a (possibly THE) premier _profitable_ digital resource for IT folks. what got in their way was their lack of vision--their inability to re-imagine themselves.
R.I.P. Sys Admin
P.S.
if there are any flickering embers in the Sys Admin ashes, if someone takes up the reins and makes the rag digital i'm still willing to pony up good money for a subscription (and i suspect many others would be too).
Neglected, pure and simple.
a ting_Systems/Unix/
... insight.
They had the platform, the had the forum, they had an audience.
When it came to subscribe once again, I had to think - has this magazine answered, delivered, proposed anything of consequence? [not counting Amy's column]
It was supposed to be about UNIX (?), not just Solaris.
http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Oper
System Administrators want answers about the OS. [and the sum thereof]
I wanted Sys Admin to give me configuration tips, tuning tricks
I WANT magazines, not PDFs, I want something to refer back to, in these last few years I just skimmed it, read Amy Rich, then it went straight to the shelf.
It's too bad.
I liked the idea of the magazine, but they suffered neglect, from staff and ultimately reader interest alike.
~hylas
The fact that the magazine called for papers from its readers, rather than simply pay a small group of contributors for whatever they could scrawl out in a month seemed to deliver better quality articles - I suspect this is something similar to more academic journals. I always had a good deal more faith in their articles than in any other periodicals I read.
The idea of a web based version on the surface seems like a good idea. However, based on other postings on this thread this does not look like something that will take off with CMP.
Doesn't this leave an opportunity for someone else to step in ?
If you think about this, if CMP are discontinuing the magazine, then the only remaining assets of value are their website, subscriber list, stock of backissue CD's, and possibly any articles in their library that have not yet been published. Maybe there is an opportunity for someone ( eg OSDN - hint hint) to talk to CMP and see if they can buy the domain. That, coupled with the potential use of their subscriber email list, could be an opportunity to develop a web based publication of similar quality (you know - one with editors that dupe check, spell check, fact check, etc) to fill the void.
Sell advertising in the publications, pay people to review the content before it's release to subscribers, and do it while people remember that the magazine actually existed.
Irrespective of the delivery method, I believe that there is still a need for such a publication. If it was priced in the same market as some of the other electronic magazines (eg Linux Journal) it may work.
I'd buy it.