# Do you buy magazines? Did you ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014 "2019-11-05T04:27:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/41 "2019-11-05T15:44:28Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > I’ve had a subscription to Analog Science Fiction since the 60’s. Still have it and they come every month. _Analog_ went to six thicker issues a year years ago, a year or two after _Fantasy & Science Fiction_ did. Speaking of which, I subscribe to both as well as _National Geographic_ and _Scientific American_, all of them started somewhere between 1970 and 1975. I’ve had subscriptions to others but let them all lapse long ago, _Mother Earth News, Model Railroader, Proceedings,_ and _Astronomy_ come to mind immediately, but there were others. I occasionally read an article in my brother’s issue of _Aviation Weekly_. I do not recall the last time I bought one off the rack. I’m 69. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/42 "2019-11-05T15:59:19Z")
I’m in my late 40’s. I get Sports Illustrated (we’ll see how long that continues with the changes there), and Cook’s Country. I also had a sub to Golf Digest the I didn’t renew, but they are still sending it to me. Same with Milk Street. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/43 "2019-11-05T16:04:43Z")
The only magazine we subscribe to is Texas Monthly, which contains occasionally excellent articles including investigative pieces, plus invaluable advice about where to find the best Tex-Mex and barbecue for local dining or mail order. 🙂 I used to subscribe to a couple of gardening magazines (Fine Gardening and American Horticulture), but they got repetitive over time, so at best I might pick up a gardening magazine or two a couple times a year for reading on a vacation trip. We still have two newspaper subscriptions (online and weekend physical delivery for the local paper, and full subscription to one national newspaper). Once or twice a week it’s fun to read the Cleveland Plain Dealer to sample incredibly inane letters to the editor and moans and groans about the Cleveland Browns. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/44 "2019-11-05T16:06:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Do you buy magazines? On a frequent basis? Occasionally? Rarely? Never? Rarely. I don’t remember the last time I bought one. > [@](#): > > Have you bought magazines in the past? Yes, and I’m old enough to append that with “of course I did, we didn’t all grow up in the era of Internet porn.” > [@](#): > > Are there specific situations when you buy a magazine; like when you’re going on a flight? There would have to be an article that I wanted to have in hard copy and original formatting. > [@](#): > > Do you subscribe to any magazines? Have you subscribed to any magazines in the past? I have magazines subscribed to on my behalf as Christmas presents from my mother, if that counts. > [@](#): > > What’s your age? 1. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/45 "2019-11-05T16:06:43Z")
Back in my early 20s, I used to get **People** off the rack. Until I wised up. A little later, I subscribed to **National Lampoon** for a few years. Magazines nowadays smell so badly that I can’t read them. Oh, one year of **Guitar Player**. I wasn’t that type of guitarist, so I let it lapse. Age: late 50s. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/46 "2019-11-05T16:21:58Z")
I subscribe to plenty. I’ve never found electronic magazines to be a good substitute unlike Kindle ebooks. Also, I feel no guilt about throwing them out unlike the painful process of thinning out books. I always get offers to redeem air miles for magazines and I take advantage of it if it’s an airline I seldom fly. There’s no frequent flyer program that makes it easier to redeem miles for flights, so I’ll use miles for magazines or WiFi. I don’t fly on business so I rarely rack up enough to qualify and I haven’t decided on an air miles card yet. Magazines I get: The Economist The New Yorker New York The Atlantic Smithsonian history Sports Illustrated GQ Out National Geographic Travel Conde Naste Travel Travel and Leisure Chicago I’m sure I’m forgetting some and I’m not including my college alumni magazine or the Art Institute of Chicago magazine. I’ll often buy a couple of magazines abroad. Don’t often buy them in the USA. As you can see, I’ve got plenty ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/47 "2019-11-05T17:44:11Z")
Shit, **dale** - that’s A LOT of reading material! Just the Economist and New Yorker landing in my mailbox weekly would be more than I could handle! ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/48 "2019-11-05T17:49:39Z")
I’m 39. When I was a kid, I’d always pester my parents to let me buy a magazine at the store. Eventually, I started buying my own. I’ve always subscribed to at least a few at any given time over the years. Even now in the dying age of magazines, I still subscribe to a handful, probably 4-5 car magazines, Popular Mechanics, stuff like that. I buy a lot less at the newsstand these days, mostly because they are so expensive. You can get a year’s subscription delivered to your house for around the same price as a single issue…but if I’m at the airport and staring down the barrel of a long international flight, I’ll usually pick up a couple. If I have time to kill at Barnes & Noble (one of the few that are left) I’ll read a stack of magazines and put them back on the shelf. I’m a graphic designer and appreciate the entire process of designing and printing, and there’s something about a physical copy that I like better than reading the stories online. It’s sad for me to see them dying out. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/49 "2019-11-05T17:53:42Z")
Are we counting magazines that are just included with membership in an organization? I get _Sierra_ and AAA’s _Via_, but that’s just because I’m a member of the Sierra Club and AAA and they’re included with the membership. I don’t actually want their magazines and they always just get thrown into the recycling without being read. I don’t believe I’ve ever actually purchased a magazine on its own as an adult. As a kid I had subscriptions to _Boy’s Life_ and the official _Star Trek_ fan club magazine. I’m 39. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/50 "2019-11-05T17:55:44Z")
I used to buy the odd Mad Magazine for kicks, but I haven’t done that in at least a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/51 "2019-11-05T18:25:17Z")
I dropped my subscription to _Cycle World_ when I determined they had more pages devoted to Nicotine delivery products than to any motorcycles I had interest in. And they keep begging me to come back. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/52 "2019-11-05T18:38:25Z")
I’m 67. I’ve subscribed to tons of magazines in the past. Today I get 4 SF magazines - Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF (subscription started in 1968) and Clarkesworld. I collect, so emagazines won’t do. I have 3,466 sf magazines in my collection. The New Yorker. IEEE Spectrum Another IEEE magazine which runs my column. Technology Review (free as an alum who donates.) I sometimes buy Skeptic at B&N, and Games if I’m going on a trip. We also get, free, an AirBnB magazine which often isn’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/53 "2019-11-05T18:46:42Z")
I used to subscribe to a variety of magazines and typically had 3 or 4 at any given time, but I don’t subscribe to any right now. I still occasionally pick up a copy of _Finescale Modeler_ from the bookstore if there is an article that interests me. It’s a magazine about model building, so the articles are often about techniques rather than news that would go out of date by the time the magazine is published. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/54 "2019-11-05T18:51:49Z")
I currently subscribe to the Economist. Apart from that I can’t recall buying or subscribing to a magazine as an adult. I’m nearly 40 years old. As a kid I did have a Mad magazine subscription. This was back in South Africa, so I have a memory of it being somewhat expensive, but that may not be an accurate memory. I suppose technically my cub scout son subscribes to Boys Life. I’d count that as a subscription since he actually does read and look forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/55 "2019-11-05T18:56:49Z")
I subscribe to a fly fishing magazine and to The Week, a news magazine. I have online subscriptions to the Atlantic and Foreign Affairs. I’m 53. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/56 "2019-11-05T19:43:49Z")
Most of the magazines I get nowadays are because I support assorted nonprofits, and they insist on sending me magazines. In the hopes that I’ll give more money next year, I’m sure. I’ve also got a cheap subscription to the New Yorker because I was reading some of their more serious journalism online, and figured they deserved some support. Getting a magazine from them weekly is WAY too much reading material; I’m gonna cancel. If they sold an ‘online subscription’ for cheap, I’d have bought that instead, but didn’t see one. So I don’t _intentionally_ get any magazines. I definitely haven’t intentionally subscribed to magazines since we brought the Firebug home from Russia back in 2009. I know I usually had a few magazine subscriptions going back in the pre-Internet and dial-up eras, and I’m pretty sure I still had a couple of subscriptions going into the 00’s. I was also subscribing to the Washington Post daily paper until 2009, but the combination of parenthood and the Web killed both my newspaper and magazine subscriptions. As far as buying magazines at a newsstand, maybe occasionally a Penthouse or something back in the pre-Internet days; that would have been about it. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/57 "2019-11-05T19:56:51Z")
I used to have some about home improvement but I noticed about every 2 years they start to repeat topics. There are only so many things that can be fixed in a home. So every 2 years another issue on say, installing a toilet. And the same on car magazines. How many times can you discuss working on a carburetor on a 75 Camaro? A friend said it was about a 1 year cycle for fitness magazines. There are only so many muscles of the body to work out. Same for a magazine on Golf. Eventually you run out of discussing different shots to hit or clubs to use. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/58 "2019-11-05T20:33:29Z")
Haven’t bought anything on a newstand in years, but I still have several subscriptions: _The New Yorker, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Consumer Reports,_ and _The Atlantic._ ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/59 "2019-11-05T21:12:07Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Shit, **dale** - that’s A LOT of reading material! Just the Economist and New Yorker landing in my mailbox weekly would be more than I could handle! I spend a lot of time on public transit and they’re perfect. Also, a lot them aren’t really time dependent. I didn’t touch a Smithsonian history magazine all summer, but now that it’s getting colder, I will. I assume George Washington is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014/60 "2019-11-05T21:21:22Z")
We’ve had a variety of magazine subscriptions over the years, but now, the only one we get is AARP and AAA, and that’s just because they came with the memberships. For the most part, then go into the recycle bin unread. When we were actively sailing, we got 3 or 4 sailing magazines. But now, we find what we want on line. We’re in our mid-60s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-magazines-did-you-ever/843014.md?page=4)