#Amiga World Ends
35 messages in this thread
If I may speculate on why AmigaWorld would end publication, I would have to
point the finger at their parent company, IDG Communications. They have a
history of ending publication suddenly and for no reason. They were also the
publishers of RUN and as I have stated before, my subscription to the
bi-monthly publication at the end suddenly changed to a PC-World subscription
(Yech!). BTW, this prompted me to go buy my Amiga so can't be viewed as all
bad.
So this is hardly a first for IDG. Maybe, if we're lucky, some of AW's staff
will join Amazing. And to all of you AW subscribers, don't be suprised if you
receive PC-World issues to round out your subscription }:<
There will be one GLORIOUS bon fire in my back yard, if my AW sub turns into a
PC-World sub.. and it won't be anything with the word Amiga on it burning.
Run, INFO, Amiga Resource, Amiga +, all were good mags. My favorite here was
INFO. The magazine for the longest time was composed entirely on Amigas. (I
still have many issues.)
Patrick White
Why drive a Ford when you can drive a Porsche….AMIGA
My PC-Worlds are currently being used as a platform to raise my stereo
speakers up off of the floor. They may be crap, but they sure are THICK! 😀
Mark
I hope you are wrong about my one month old AW subscription magically
morphing into a PCworld subscription. Talk about adding insult to injury.
> My PC-Worlds are currently being used as a platform to raise my stereo
> speakers up off of the floor. They may be crap, but they sure are
>THICK!
A hot tip, I'll try to keep it in mind.
Tom
alternate: jonest@hfsi.com
I never met a man I didn't like…Will Rogers
> My PC-Worlds are currently being used as a platform to raise my stereo
> speakers up off of the floor. They may be crap, but they sure are
> THICK! 😀
You may get some improvement if you put an extra sheet of paper into one
of them 🙂 According to one of the Gurus who writes in certain HiFi
magazines, the number of pages in each book in your listening room has an
effect of the sound. It has to be either odd or even, I don't remeber
which. I assume this must be even more important for magazines used as
speaker stands.
Peter Wade
Autopiloting from London, England
My favorite Amiga magazines were TRANSACTOR and AMIGA APPRENTICE and
JOURNEYMAN. There'll never bee a pair to equal those two, I think.
—Betty
You're absolutely right–I'd forgotten the A&J. Great reading!
Marion Deland
CROSSINGS – Newsletter for Amiga/PC/Mac compatibility
I will never forget Dick Barnes. I never met him in person, but we
corresponded and spoke on the phone a few times. He was one of the most
unusual people I've come across. It's just too bad that he became ill. And he
couldn't turn the A&J over to anyone else – because he WAS the A&J. He added a
great deal to the Amiga through his publication, though. I never knew him
earlier on – but he had done a similar paper on the Commodore SuperPET for
several years before he got the Amiga.
—Betty
I never heard what happened to him…when he closed down the A&J, he was making
optimistic sounds about coming back some day…
Marion Deland
CROSSINGS – Newsletter for Amiga/PC/Mac compatibility
Don't forget Amigo Times. They had great stuff on science and education so I'm
biased. (Although they did accept my subscription cheque 2 months AFTER they
folded).
regards, Lu on AutoPilot downunder
Now I cannot take credit for the demise of Amigo Times. Never printed a single
sentence in that one.
—Betty
Betty,
I think it must have been me killing AmigoTimes, then. I had articles in two or
three of the last issues…
Gee, Denny – I thought you had kept the magazines going, and it was just Jim
and me that managed to kill them off.
—Betty
You mean someone ELSE is also jinxing these publications?
Marion Deland
CROSSINGS – Newsletter for Amiga/PC/Mac compatibility
IDG recently purchased a major (successful) UK Amiga mag — Amiga Computing. I
don't know if that has any relation to the closing down of Amiga World. I've
spoken one of the editors of Amiga Computing and they have hopes of better
distribution in the US. Of course, IDG could have purchased them as part of
the assets of the publisher they purchased and have not interest in the
magazine at all.
Hell, IDG probably bought Amiga Computing just so they could shut it down
too… This whole mess is just making me sick to my stomach. Somebody out there
in a very high position just doesn't want to see the Amiga come back. As for
those idiots holding the "buyout", maybe we should organize a "trip" down to
the Bahamas for all Amiga enthusiasts…Say for about two weeks…
>If we're lucky, some of AW's staff will join Amazing
It would be nice, but I'd be very surprised. I'd be happy to move my DOS column
over, but they already have one. Plus last I heard, their pay rates for
articles were dramatically less than the industry standard.
Which is why they are likely to remain profitable for a long time. 🙂
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
I dunno about that, Dale. I used to work for two weeks on an article, and then
I'd get about $200 for it – and none of those magazines survived. I've always
been a little sensitive that ALL of the magazines I wrote for didn't make it.
—Betty
Betty,
The magazine business is vicious… Of the 10 or so magazines I've written for
over the years, only Amiga Computing, OMNI, and Penthouse remain.
Don't think I can kill the last two, though…. Their sheer longevity should
give them the resilience to survive even my writing for them…
Well, Denny – I've never thought that you were as deadly to magazines as I. <g>
IF I take up writing again, I think I shall write about something other than
computers. It would just have to be easier to write about plants or genealogy
or something less technical and less changeable.
—Betty
Now if you and Denny will just start writing for all those clone rags…
-ash
Kyfho
Don't forget Jim Butterfield. His record goes all the way back to Kilobaud and
some others of that era.
—Betty
Never
-ash
Kyfho
"I've always been a little sensitive that ALL of the magazines I wrote for
didn't make it."
So are you trying to tell us something Betty <g>. I still have the article
you wrote in AmigaWorld. I believe it was about color fonts or something
like that. So all I have to do to jinx someone is send them a copy of that
article. Hmmmm…..who should I have first on my hit list <g>.
// John (Warp 4040 & Emplant Quadra 840)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net
That seems to be the way it is, John. Oh – I did forget that AmigaUser
International is still going, after having published about six of my things.
But they never paid for them, so maybe that's how they survived?
—Betty
How about Irving Gould? At the least, he might learn something about the
Amiga…and who knows, maybe there is a jinx!
Marion Deland
CROSSINGS – Newsletter for Amiga/PC/Mac compatibility
Try sending that deadly letter to:
Microsoft
c/o Bill Gates
Redmond, WA
"I've always been a little sensitive that ALL of the magazines I wrote for
didn't make it…"
When I made a similar comment a few months back, Betty, I started to get a
suggested list of magazines I should write for … so as to get rid of THEM,
too!
–Jim
Maybe we should form a partnership – write for ALL of those magazines and clear
the shelves a bit?
You've written for some really outstanding magazines, Jim. Who'd have ever
believed that SOME of them would have disappeared – but they have. Is Popular
Electronics still in business?
—Betty
> If I may speculate on why AmigaWorld would end publication, I would have to
point the finger at their >parent company, IDG Communications. They have a
history of ending publication suddenly and for no >reason. They were also the
publishers of RUN and as I have stated before, my subscription to the
>bi-monthly publication at the end suddenly changed to a PC-World subscription
(Yech!). BTW, this >prompted me to go buy my Amiga so can't be viewed as all
bad.
> So this is hardly a first for IDG. Maybe, if we're lucky, some of AW's
staff will join Amazing. And to all >of you AW subscribers, don't be suprised
if you receive PC-World issues to round out your subscription >}:<
I'm hardly unbiased about IDG (hey, I'm a PC World employee), but I don't think
it's fair to accuse us of "ending publication suddenly and for no reason" —
especially in the case of AmigaWorld. As you know, AW was one of the last two
US Amiga mags left standing, years after the others pulled out of the market.
And while I have no inside info on why AW is shutting down, I presume it's
because it doesn't make financial sense for it to continue. That's the main
reason why any magazine (and any busines) closes, and it's pretty hard to argue
with.
(And heck, as an Amiga hacker from way back myself, I don't think it would make
sense for IDG to round out AW subscriptions with PC World issues…at least not
as your only option.)
— Harry
I have to agree. I just can't buy the "conspiracy" theory. That someone high up
in the publishing biz somehow has a beef against the Amiga and wants to stamp
out any comeback attempt.
As an AW subscriber I'm upset about this too but I don't see how it could
really come down to anything else but an economic decision. Why would they shut
down a publication that was producing a profit? In most successful business
operations everything comes down to dollars and cents.
I passed the denial stage a long time ago. The company that's really
responsible for this whole mess is long gone.
Greg
You are right Harry. The problem with AW isn't that it failed. Rather AW has
succeeded far beyond the market. AW's managers decided that AW would go out
with its head held high – which in magazine parley means still in the black.
That status couldn't be maintained any longer, and given thestate of the market
it made no sense to hang on to what would be a losing battle. Its sad. But it
does make sense. Lou
The problem with most conspiracy theories is that they ignore one of life's
little maxims, the KISS principle : Keep It Simple Simon. Selling a magazine
about a product that has been out of production for over a year, went out of
production because they couldn't sell enough ot it, and has no definite
prospect of resuming production doesn't sound real profitable to me. I have
two Amigas that I love dearly, but the fat lady reallly has sung.
"Where are the snows of yesteryear"
Kimo