It's not just Stereophile readers dumbing down. Attention spans are shorter than ever. Stereophile reminds me of what happened to Bicycling Magazine when ads and pretty pictures elbowed out original content. Stereophile is still ahead of Tone Audio in credibility at least. Where would they be if John 'measurements' Atkinson flew the nest? I dare say show pictures of fun bunch brandishing tall Vegas drinks and girls in Canada with blur hair may sell audio rags, but why? In fairness publishing is a cut throat business and why any day now I expect reader supported publications like HIFI Critic to vanish like the dodo bird.
Is Stereophile seeking a new reader demographic?
Does anyone else find this as odd, or amusing, as I do? I just received a subscription solicitation for Stereophile magazine offering me a "free MP3 auto adapter" if I subscribe for a year. The promotion includes a picture of a cheap 12-volt adapter intended to provide power to an MP3 player.
Two thoughts came immediately to my mind -- first, if I can afford any of the equipment being promoted (and "promoted" is, in my view, a polite description) in Stereophile, why would a $10.00 adapter be an incentive to subscribe? And second, Stereophile manages, in each and every issue, to say something nasty about compressed audio files. Why would they be pushing an MP3 adapter as a subscription premium?
Methinks the marketing and editorial departments ought to be talking to each other a bit more.
Two thoughts came immediately to my mind -- first, if I can afford any of the equipment being promoted (and "promoted" is, in my view, a polite description) in Stereophile, why would a $10.00 adapter be an incentive to subscribe? And second, Stereophile manages, in each and every issue, to say something nasty about compressed audio files. Why would they be pushing an MP3 adapter as a subscription premium?
Methinks the marketing and editorial departments ought to be talking to each other a bit more.