jmtd → log → magazines

When I was growing up, magazines were a significant part of my recreation and education. We didn't have the Internet, or the World Wide Web; we did have libraries, but for up-to-the-minute information, magazines were best.

In the 90s those magazines included Amiga Format, and later film-oriented magazines like SFX. It's where we learned about new software, games, computer hardware developments; as well as TV shows, movies, and novels.

Magazines haven't exactly died out: this is evident if you have a local WH Smiths. Some of them seem to be enjoying a renaissance, largely by riding on a large wave of nostalgia. But they aren't fulfilling the role they used to, that's been completely usurped by the Web.

After writing about Interzone's new publisher and the lovely new perfect-bound, novel-sized format it was printed in, IZ squeezed out one last physical issue before becoming digital-only.

The later TTA press-era Interzones were approximately A5 sized and were posted out with delivery slip of paper, which was blank on the reverse. The slip was slightly smaller than the issue. I began a habit of putting the slip inside the cover and writing on it to mark which stories I had read in that particular issue, and whether I really enjoyed them or not. That physical habit became part of the experience of reading the magazine.