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Dr. Dobb's Journal Going Web-Only
paleshadows writes "The first issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal (DDJ) was published in January 1976. A few days ago, Herb Sutter (the chair of the ISO C++ committee and a long-time DDJ columnist) announced through his latest blog post that, 'as of January 2009, Dr. Dobb's Journal is permanently suspending print publication and going web-only.' This follows an earlier announcement that PC Magazine is to become digital-only, too, as of February 2009. To those of us who enjoy reading such stuff away from the computer these are bad news, as there seems to be no other major technical programmers' magazines left standing."
just print it out.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Magazines shouldn't need batteries.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
The thing about all the readers is that I simply would not use one in the bathroom for a lot of sound reasons I'm sure you can imagine.
But it seems like one could create a bathroom reader that would be welcome.
Scrap the Kindle and come up with the iPoo.
What I want is a reader that is bathroom and bathub friendly. Also one I could take outdoors and not worry about it getting rained on or something if I happen to leave it out on the deck by accident.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
When I got my January copy it was in a plastic bag with a brochure for sd west. The brochure was thicker than the magazine. I almost tossed the magazine and kept the brochure. So much has been cut back over the years. I will miss the bug of the month. It was an ad but it was fun. Maybe they'll still have it on the web version.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Tell me about it. I've professionally written some articles in the past, and it seems like there's almost nothing left to write for anymore. Either the magazine is so specific so as to be little more than an advertisement (e.g. Oracle or DB2 magazine) or the magazine doesn't pay (in any meaningful sense of the term) for articles. (e.g. Java Developers Journal) Time will tell if web-based publications will manage to support the same eco-system of authors or if it's time to go write a book.
Probably just time to write a book. ;-)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
2600 is still in print form.
Not surprised, the last issue was very thin, but still. First Byte (I still miss Byte, see this 10 year old issue for why.), then PC Mag, now DDJ. Ah well, another subscription to not renew.
At least Linux Journal is still a Real Magazine.
Best Slashdot Co
Capt Obvious here. :)
I recently started http://groovymag.com as a PDF-only publication, and have had interest from people in print versions. At the small numbers we're at, it's probably about an extra $5 per copy just to cover print and postage, which I don't think most people are willing to pay that right now, though maybe I'll be proven wrong.
We're in a niche market, so we don't rely on advertising, and have no plans to do so. I suspect we may see more products forgoing the advertising model altogether, and focusing on providing value for 'micropayments' - $2-$4/month for access to content. I think the 'micro' in micropayments has traditionally had people thinking about "2 cents per page view" sort of thing, but that's never proven feasible.
What might arise from this downturn in advertising-driven publications are content networks of like minded publications that offer access to content from all sites for a set fee. Aren't there some industries that already do this (ahem - adult?)
creation science book
This news reminds me of a recent, funny, and relevant strip from the comic Sheldon: http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/081229.html
Personally, I prefer on-line versions. With hyper-links and video, the content can be greatly enriched.
While I tend to agree with you, there is something nice about holding printed material in your hand and reading that instead of being in front of a screen. I can't really put my finger on it, though...but it's difficult to "curl up with a good computer."
Plus none of those pesky issues with storing old magazines, or recycling, or worse, land-fill.
Definitely correct here. However, this assumes that their magazine can be downloaded (PDF?) or that they store it to their site for a long amount of time.
Never really was a "major technical programmers' magazine". It was simply a rag filled with useless advertisements and a forum for John C. Dvorak to spout his nonsense. I stopped reading it ten years ago when it became irrelevant.
I've got your sig, right here.
MacTech journal has been in continuous print publication since 1984.
sig has been sent away for a few small repairs...
I have to admit my first thought was: when the hell did PC Magazine become a technical programmer's magazine?
you should read everything on the internet as if it had "but I'm probably talking out of my ass" appended to it.
At least we can still read the good word from Bob.
Some of us just love PAPER. I read Doctorow's Little Brother online, but I'm buying the paper version.
I used to be an avid reader of both Dr. Dobbs and PC Mag, but that was when personal computing was fairly new and the magazine racks in the grocery stores were full of computer magazines. Now all the magazines in the stores are women's fluff rags; People, Home and Graden, ladies Home Journal. Odd since I see as many men as women in the store, and women these days are into much the same things as men.
PC Mag started sucking, too. Dr. Dobbs never did, but I could no longer find copies.
My daughter bought me hardcover books for Christmas. I'll hate to see the day when they're obsolete, but then again I might not live that long (I figure I've got between one day and forty years left).
Free Martian Whores!
....just use your iPhone while you're on the can to read it.
Sure, that's possible, but what good is an iPhone if you run out of toilet paper? 3G won't help you there.
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If you can't read German yet, then maybe it's time to learn. This has always been one of the best computer magazines in print. It's in-depth and hands-on. I built one of their hardware projects once (an SBC). Possibly still have it. http://www.heise.de/ct/
I swear Byte magazine was 70% ads, 30% content. You had 5-6 pages of ads in the middle of articles. I wouldn't be surprised if they just forgot the last part of the article, and continued on with the ads. At least with "Computer Shopper" you were expecting ads. Sadly, PC Magazine was useless to the common user unless you were looking to upgrade. Buy Buy buy buy buy. I miss the magazines that had type-in programs.
Paper's going nowhere fast. We'll still use it for archival purposes, will your RSS feeds, PDAs and Kindles last a thousand years? Paper originals of the Magna Carta still exist today. If it had been written in an early .doc format I would already have trouble reading it, I can go to the British library to read a copy of the Magna Carta written in 1215.
If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
"g2g"? *sigh*
I've been reading Dr. Dobbs for a few years.. Same with Linux Journal, Linux Magazine, SysAdmin magazine. Though I enjoy thumbing through the magazine while I'm - uhh - busy, keeping the back issues is a pain. They're not easily searchable, take up a lot of space, are not cut/paste friendly, etc..
The era of the print computer magazine is in its last throes. I raise a glass to Compute!, Antic, Byte, SysAdmin, and all the others that entertained me through the years.
What's so bad about paper? Most of our paper comes from trees in managed timberlands, which are currently replanting twice as fast as they're harvesting (at least in the U.S.) And much of it comes from tree farms, which are wonderfully eco-friendly. We use a helluva lot of paper, but it's not beyond sustainable levels yet and it's wonderfully convenient. And paper's a renewable and easily recyclable resource, unlike the materials used in e-readers.
Does somebody more eco-wise want to set me straight and explain why an e-reader is so much "greener" than dead trees?
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Today we have our laptops, Kindles, RSS feeds, incredible PDAs, hell, my cell phone does more than first computer ever could, ten times over.
I used to read books and magazines on my Palm tungsten. Then I switched to blackberry, and I have nearly $1000 in ebooks that I can't read. At all. Why would people want to run that risk? The capabilities are there, but after /years/ of ebook publishing there's still no standard that will ensure this can't happen. Print media can always be read, no matter what platform you're using.
Of course, there's a much more practical concern: after 12-16 hours, I want to /stop/ looking at a monitor for a while.
Just please don't give me this nostalgic wasn't-it-great-back-then crap about how you used to be so excited for the new issue to come in the mail. Rather, be excited about seeing your RSS feed updated. Shift your focus, enjoy your nostalgia, but put it into perspective.
Nostalgia is longing for something past for its own sake. In this case, there's a measurable difference in quality. I can count on one hand the number of web sites that deliver the kind of quality technical information that DDJ and CUJ used to provide.
And among those web sites, it's still a challenge to find the valid, useful information hidden amidst blog entries where folks will hold forth on topics they know little to nothing about.
I haven't purchased a magazine outside of an airport in this millennium and I don't know anyone else who has, either. There isn't one thing a magazine could tell me that I haven't read (and probably re-re-read) many times over.
In other words, "I don't use this, and therefore nobody else does either"?
They're mostly cutting down 25 year old trees that they planted 25 years ago specifically so they can be cut down now. Then they replant and move over to the next lot which was planted 24 years ago and so on.
I have seen this stupid decision done before.
To accountants it's great on paper, web site's cheaper, and great traffic.
But they don't take into account that it's the print magazine that's been driving there traffic.
As soon as they stop the printed magazine people will slowly stop going to there site and they will slowly run out of cash.
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso
Trees absorb more CO2 in their first 50 years of life than in their second (I know - [citation needed] - if anyone has one please post). Does a newly planted tree absorb as much as a 100 year old tree? No. But on a 100-year scale, chopping down and replanting is the better move. I don't think that pointing out that they're replanting is at all disingenuous.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Running Light Without Overbyte.
I'm not sure where you got the 50-year number, but there is a break-even point. Although that point is very different depending on species. Basically the tree is absorbing carbon and converting it to wood. Large trees grow slowly (produce little wood) while young trees grow quickly (produce a lot of wood). More wood production -> More carbon absorption.
Until you drop it while you're reading in the tub. Then you receive an electrical shock, and a financial shock of $300; whereas with a dead tree mag, you're out $5.00.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
I used to have a Palm Tungsten too. I bought a lot of ebooks at the time and I still have access to them on my WM5 powered HTC phone. Have you tried eReader software ? It is free, and I believe you can re-download any books you have already paid for. If it won't run on the crackberry, then maybe you should have considered a different device rather than throw away $1000 of ebooks. But whatever happens, you can still read them on Windows, Mac, iPhone, Symbian.
Not just handy, you could download party political statements, marketing hype, photos of celebrities, etcetera, and make some very satisfying commentary, which you could then dispose of so it would never be seen again.
Hmm, sounds a lot like blogging.
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> Does somebody more eco-wise want to set me straight and
> explain why an e-reader is so much "greener" than dead trees?
The paper-making process is very non-green. Really, it should be called the waste-making process, with paper as a minor byproduct. OTOH, I doubt that most e-readers are all that perfect in their manufacturing processes, either.
Of course, the high-quality magazine paper (like DDJ is printed upon) is ecologically worse than book paper, or pulp (ala WWII SF mags), too. The high clay content make it much harder to recycle higher-quality (printing) magazines.
Still, claiming eco-friendliness for either is rather silly. When e-readers can last a century, like at least SOME magazine copies have, they might have a point, unless the owner only uses them for a few things, in which case "dead trees" wins. Unless e-readers include magically recycling old units, rather than letting owners just bury it in the trash, they will have the problem of old units piling up, Wall-E style.
Beating the crap out isn't recommended; just a gentle wipe will suffice.
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Is not ending the correct term?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Replanting is great, but does that newly planted tree use as much CO2 as the 100 year old one cut down? Trees take a while to regrow... so saying they're being replanting is a bit disingenuous.
Actually, a forest is most productive in terms of its ability to feed and sustain an arboreal environment just a few years after it has been cleared and replanted. Old-growth forests with huge trees and a dense upper canopies are not nearly as productive in consuming CO2 or providing a habitat for a diverse group of different species of both plants and animals as do much younger forests.
An excellent example of this is the region around Mount St. Helens, where the destruction of the old forest that surrounded this volcano has lead to a huge increase in both the diversity and productivity of the wildlife in the area, now that several years have passed since the eruption in 1980.
This said, I do agree that some "old growth" forests that are cleared and then replanted with substantially different tree species are destructive to the environments they are found in. Removing old growth Redwood species from the American Pacific Northwest and replanting with Douglas Fir is not a sustainable or productive use of that land. But don't take a few exceptions out of context and claim that all lumber harvesting is a horrible thing or even purely destructive when in fact the opposite conclusion can be made.
As to how long between forest clearings should take place, that can be debated. I've seen numbers ranging from 25 to 100 years, and it should be noted that some National Forest lands that have been put into a 100 year cycle are on their second "crop" after being previously harvested more than 100 years ago under USDA regulations. There is no reason why such a harvest couldn't be indefinitely sustained and in fact serve not just the forest lands but the general public in a very productive manner that helps both people and wildlife.