19 Automotive magazines being shut down

This situation reminds me of my dad's position when he was a trustee at their church. Their minister was retiring at around 85-years old and dad headed the committee looking for a new pastor. The committee had narrowed it down to a couple of candidates who were in their early 30's. The church had a vocal group called the "super seniors", folks over 70 years old. My dad had the inauspicious "pleasure" of discussing the hiring process with the seniors. He boiled it down to something like "we are the group who built this church, but we are not the future, we are its history. If this church is to continue, we need to adapt to the wants and needs of the next generation." Or something to that point. The seniors wanted another pastor from their age group, but frankly there were none who were looking for a job, they were all retired. Plus the hiring process would likely commence in a few years through natural attrition. He also mentioned that the retiring pastor started at the church when he was 35.

I belong to an organization that is struggling to continue as our membership continues to die off. The young generation has no personal connection to the product (an old toy in this case), so at 60-years old, I continue to be one of the youngest members of the group. The club has tried to interest kids in collecting the old toys (Erector sets, American Flyer trains, chemistry sets, microscopes, Mysto magic sets, etc.), but they have little to no interest. Guys have suggested things like virtual building where all of the parts could be manipulated on screen and assembled as maybe something to peek the interest of youngsters. But no one in the group has the computer skills to pull that one off. I see the group going the way of the dodo in a few years.

I'm afraid bricks and mortars and printed publications will be things of the past. I used to frequent a couple of small hardware stores back in the day, but they both closed down from big box store competition years ago. Most of my Christmas shopping this year was from on-line retailers, so much more convenient than driving to the mall (which is half vacant in our town).

I remember watching my dad do a tune-up on their 1971 Bonneville with a 455; changed the points and condenser, replaced the distributor cap and rotor, plug wires, etc. and used his dwell meter and Sun timing light. It was "quaint" technology in the day, but boy are things sooo much better now. When I hired into GM back in 1979 we had carburetors that had awful drivability at altitude. Mass air flow sensors and direct injection are wonderful technology improvements.

Printed publications are much like old lantern-style tool holders. Does anyone even sell them anymore? Quick change tool posts are the current rage for good reason. I can grind HSS tool bits that cut great, but tend to go to the carbide inserts for speed and convenience. Sports Illustrated announced that they are going monthly in 2020. I subscribed for 10 years but ESPN gave me the news instantly. We still have a set of Encyclopedia Americana and the Book of Knowledge in our den. They do a great job of holding down the book shelves. Have to admit that I'd go to Google before hitting the books.

As callous as it sounds, the old saying "adapt or die" is ringing true for yet another industry. Change is tough, but it's inevitable. Remember running to the camera store to get film developed and prints made? Gotta love the technology change to digital media where photos are instantly previewed and can be shared.

Wow, too much coffee and Bailey's this morning!

Bruce
 
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I haven't bought a Peterson's 4 wheel and off road in over ten years. I thought it was going down hill back then. Only about 50-60 pages in it and more ads than articles. I remember back in the 90's the rag was 140-150 pages and chuck full of features and interesting tech articles. You could spend hours reading it and tearing out info you wanted to save.
 
Like when I got our '73 Jeep that pictured in my avatar. First thing I did was get an HEI distributor for it.
Did the same with a boat several years ago.
Points and condensors? -Bleh.
But back in Auto class in high school I mastered the Sun Distributor test stand.

Not to be a paranoid Ol' Goat, but as CatHead mentions above - what if there is a strange EMP or CME or solar storm from space?
How many of us can lay our hands on a SSB or even a portable AM/FM radio?
Heck are the radio stations even configured for providing that style of communication any longer?
Just look at what happened up in Quebec a few decades ago.
Really wouldn't take much to knock out the electronics that have become so integral to our lives.
 
I stopped buying car, motorcycle and shooting magazines a long time ago. As NCjeeper mentioned above, they got thinner and thinner on content and thicker on advertising. I didn't see the point of paying up to $10 for about 10 minutes of reading. I don't fault the internet for the demise of magazines, they did themselves in.
 
In addition to all the comments above about content vs. advertising, Motorcycle/Truck/Car (and even gun...) magazines have also been dumbed down to appeal to an audience with the attention span of a flea. Lots of pictures, darn little text and it's been a LONG time since I've seen an article long enough that you had to turn the page.
 
A agree, the mags are just full of pics of dream cars most of us can't afford.

I remember articles by Rick Voegelin on building engines. His 1985 book on engine blueprinting still holds up today. I read it cover to cover and it taught me a lot. Now I'm the one teaching other car guys about transmissions. I do enjoy dealing with most people. But there are the ones that shouldn't own any sort of a tool in ary form. Thankfully there aren't many of those.

I wonder if any of the shows on tv will be going away. There is a Hot Rod TV show. It's ok, but again it's pie in the sky for me. But every now and then I pick something up that's useful.
 
I found myself staring at the magazine rack the other day while waiting for a scrip to be filled. I was sad to see how the mighty (Petersen Publishing) have fallen. There were some $10 shiny-covered mags on how to bolt overpriced parts on your new Mustang. There was one about how to buy overpriced laser-cut parts that others would fabricate while restoring Chevy C-10 pickups. There was another on how to use 6-inch blocks to squeeze 35 inch tires on your leaf-sprung Jeep. No good stuff there, just lots of dust-covered memories. Nobody ever learned how to rebuild a transmission or properly tune a carburetor from a magazine. Magazines exist to show you how you need to spend money with their advertisers, something I've always hated. Now the internet has that covered, targeted at the right audience 99% of the time.
 
I dont subscribe to printed magazines anymore, I prefer digital. Been that way since the smart phones came out and now we have android tablets that are cheap. Very few worth reading anyway, I mainly read twin an turbine and the turbo diesel register now. Occasionally Rider, but that just makes me want a new motorcycle.
 
I'm between a rock and a hard place.
I love magazines and books, my library is chockers.
We are downsizing so there is not enough room for the 8 or so book cases let alone all the books so they have to go.
It really hurts but, if I'm honest when was the last time I opened any of them particularly my professional library.
Like probably everyone here the internet is the first call for information that is also up to date.
I have a sub to MEW and those will not be going no matter what but loosing my pro library hurts like hell but who wants it, the content is pretty but well out of date just like all the other technical books I've collected over the years.
Its also a worry that digital content could be wiped out overnight particularly if its all stored in the cloud and not localised, solar flares, coronal ejections, x-ray, gamma ray bursts etc.
Sorting through I came across some books on basic programming, wow, 1989, what a waste, who wants that today.
I much prefer real books to reading on a little screen but I do have a digital library of over 5000 SF books and around the same technical books on many subjects so there aint no way I can get through them as I'm 71 today so theres not enough time left.
I just wish I could fine someone who would like them else they have to go to St Vinnies. Then they can throw them away.
 
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