According to the theory of evolution, the subject best fitted to its environment and most able to adapt to rapid changes wins through survival. I must wonder aloud which medium--print or weblog--is going to be the dominant one in the techno-journalism fight.
Personally, I grow weary of the daily non-refinements of technology or devices reported in most technology weblogs. Really, having to watch seven moving ads for a blurp little larger than my current most will become, followed by two scrolled screens full of diatribes, fanboy flame-battles, egregiously poor spelling and ad hominem attacks do not constitute news or journalism to me. Sure, the quick little videos are neat, and I sometimes learn things in a tertiary manner by reading the fights in the comments section, but it is naught compared to the depth and breadth of a well-reported article in Wired, Popular Science or Popular Mechanics.
I remember little essay in PopMech titled "These Gadgets Suck." It showed a pile of tech toys that were less than successful. In the essay, the author urged developers, engineers, and the consumers to stop wasting time, money, and other resources in the search for the next new shiny thing.
In a recent posting to Gizmodo, a former editor had this to say:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/feature/h...rap-236310.php
In less civil terms, he echoed the sentiment:
Stop buying junk, stop obsessing over junk, stop salivating every time a tiny
incremental improvement is prophecied.
All geeks are susceptible to "chrome-lust." When the new Treo came out, I was eager to upgrade. Why? because it was new, it was "better." Well, thanks to the non-support of my wife and counseling, I am still going strong with my 650 and will only get a new one after this one's demise. (Note: Palm's website states that the 650 is no longer available; wonder what I'll get if I break this one? Thank the gods for insurance)
My point is that the web will only kill magazines if we become so addled and ludicrously swayed by shiny objects--like toddlers with enormous credit--that we start to believe that a ten line blurb about the new firmware for the iPod is more credulous than a Popular Science report about a device that transforms solid waste into energy (
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science...ccdrcrd/1.html)
Even if the printed form of these entities do not exist and they completely transmogrify into an RSS/online only format, I hope that they survive and prove that Americans and geeks of all stripes can and will hold substance over style.