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Popular Science Frees Its 137-Year Archives

Posted by kdawson on from the whole-lotta-rocket-ships dept.

DesScorp writes "Popular Science magazine has scanned every issue they've ever produced, and posted the archives at their website, at no charge. 'We've partnered with Google to offer our entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It's an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology's incredible potential to improve our lives. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.'" First search: the history of the flying car.

14 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Kudos to them by mangu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This makes me seriously consider getting a subscription to their dead tree version again.

    1. Re:Kudos to them by delirium+of+disorder · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If we had sane copyright laws, most of the issues would already be in the public domain. However, I still see this is a major gesture of support for free culture.

      I only buy books and music from authors who publish for free online.

      Maybe I should extend the same policy towards zines?

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      ------ Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government.
    2. Re:Kudos to them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If we had sane copyright laws, most of the issues would already be in the public domain.

      Even if they were, that doesn't necessarily mean they'd be easily available. It's not much use being legally allowed to do whatever you like with the material if you can't get hold of it in the first place.

    3. Re:Kudos to them by mysidia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Huh? Copyright is what prevents you from making it available or getting ahold of it in the first place.

      Copyright enforcers find unauthorized or unapproved sources and shut them down, so you can't get the material

      If it became public domain, there's little doubt someone would have an archive and be able to make that available, esp. if someone, some time would be willing to pay.

  2. Sudden outbreak of common sense by Darkness404 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This should be tagged as sudden outbreak of common sense. The entire point of organized science is to let anyone read, comment and improve upon various theories and publications in science.

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    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    1. Re:Sudden outbreak of common sense by maxume · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It is popular media, not organized science.

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      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  3. Foresight by TheMeuge · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This shows good sense on the part of the publications' editors and executives. There isn't much market for 130 past years of Popular Science. Bandwidth is cheap. Certainly making this move will get them brownie points. Brownie points mean good press. Brownie points mean more hits on their site... as does the actual archive. More hits on their website + good public image = guaranteed increase in subscriptions. Everyone wins.

  4. Re:Desire by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Yeah, but you won't. I can guarantee it. People are much more apt to bitch and moan, and less apt to actually act.

  5. Re:Flying cars are coming soon! by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The articles tend to hype stuff and leave out or fail to check for a lot of impracticalities. Few would buy the mag if they were quick to dent dreams. Current IT magazines do the same, and PHB's believe it and force their staff to adopt Agile Goat-Assisted Blindfolded Underwater Programming, etc. After 137 years, nothing's changed.

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    Table-ized A.I.
  6. Re:LIFE Magazine Also? by spydabyte · · Score: 3, Insightful

    LIFE already did: http://books.google.com/books/serial/7FQEAAAAMBAJ?rview=1

    Oh and here's the best view for all the Popular Science "Books": http://books.google.com/books/serial/CzwEAAAAMBAJ?rview=1

  7. Excellent service! by froogger · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I particularly like that they hyperlinked the split articles for ease of reading. Remember when magazines used to have a "(Continued on page 80)" at the end? Well, they've thought of that, and kudos for the extra effort!

  8. Re:Breakthroughs by Threni · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A breakthrough would be the ability to download the whole thing and flick through them at my leisure, rather than this bizarre `search for a keyword` nonsense.

  9. You already have downloaded them. by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > It'd be nice if you could download them.

    If you are viewing them you already have downloaded them: they're right there on your computer. You just haven't figured out how to save them to disk.

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    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  10. Garbage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I don't want to search, I want to download them all as PDFs, where is that option, nowhere?

    You need javascript and/or plugins enabled? GARBAGE! I want them in a format I can download and share, since they are free, right?

    Why do people insist upon over complicating every little thing! Just make them available for download and worry about searching through them later. Or is this about AD revenue?

    You will not suck my e-tits for revenue, forget you!