[DrKen]

When PC Magazine ceased publication of its magazine last January, it left PC World as the last major PC publication. I know, I know, those at Ziff-Davis who continue to delude themselves into thinking they're still working on a magazine would argue otherwise, but the bottom line is, they are NOT a magazine, period. They are an online newsletter or whatever else you'd like to call them, but they are NOT a magazine. I enjoy having a paper magazine I can hold while sitting on my toilet, or reading while in a jetliner or train, or can take into my local coffee shop in the morning to peruse while having that morning jolt of caffiene. And I can do all those things without toting a heavy hunk of hardware around with me! I'm sure the powers-that-be at Ziff-Davis thought they were being too cute by two when they elected to cease publication of the magazine, but the massive loss of readers has made the remnants of PC Magazine a non-player in the real world.

PC World has quite a responsibility on its shoulders now. Now that everything in sight has a microchip in it, I fully recognize the pull away from the personal computer and more toward becoming a general, all-purpose personal electronics magazine, what with so-called "cell phones" (which are almost everything but a cell phone these days!), cameras, high def TVs & digital video reecorders, netbooks, electronic book readers, iPads and other personal hygiene items, etc. it's easy to forget that there are a lot of us still out there who rely on a personal computer - albeit connected to the net - as our electronic appliance of choice... There are a lot of us who prefer email to tweets, twitters, IMs and all the rest of the high school social networking options. There are those of us who still want to receive our applications on CD or DVD and not rely solely on internet delivery. "Cloud computing" and all the other wonderful sales gimmicks are wonderful options that should be available, but for one, I do NOT trust the net to hold my personal data, or to do my banking online, or even to pay bills online. It is fine and dandy to proclaim that the world is going in one direction, but there is no need to force the rest of us to follow lock-step. Some of us are sick and tired of cell phones continuing to get both smaller and more complex, and who want a larger cell phone than is currently available from any provider and one whose sole purpose is phone calls. So, management & staff of PC World, please consider me and others like me who still use (and rely upon) a personal computer, not a netbook, who back up their data faithfully onto media maintained at our homes and offices, who want our software delivered on CD/DVD so that we have copies on-hand, who still rely upon email and have absolutely no use for Twitter, Facebook, and all the rest of the social networking sites (that is, we do our social networking with real people, face-to-face), and who still want our magazines PRINTED ON PAPER. Maybe it's time to create a new magazine called Personal Electronics World (or PE World) and have PC World get back to the basics of the Personal Computer. And please, for God's sake (and mine) do NOT discontinue publishing a magazine with the hare-brained idea that you'll force all your readers to your online newsletter!!!

[mjd420nova]

As we have all come to ralize, there are very few things in this world that have not been taken over by the processor. TV's, cell phones, book readers, automobiles, refrigerators, home stereo or theather systems, you name it, it has had a processor added to control and monitor its functions. A real ELECTRONICS magazine is hard to find these days and the best ones I've found are UK publications. Many are single hobby type like Personal Communications, QST and the like. There are many mags that cater to just the PC like Maximum PC and a multitude of Apple product oriented ones. The sad part is that there are very few places to buy a magazine and even fewer that carry much of a cross section. I don't see an end to the continued downfall of a paper product to read, even newspapers have taken the multimedia plunge and stopped a public available product. Just another sign of the times.