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Mr. Fairlie a/k/a Grim Reaper:

I'm sure my letter today is a template for several others of its ilk.

Computer Shopper is a legendary title I simply don't care to receive anymore; saying that, for me, takes guts.

The advent of the internet has, no doubt, forced Computer Shopper and similarly-themed magazines to change gears and renew focus on narrower targets that interest readers.

I began reading Computer Shopper as a middle school student, and I couldn't wait for my grandfather to take me to the local City News Stand to purchase my monthly sixty pounds of newsprint and almost color ads. There were the forty-eleven Midwest Micro Ads in the middle, the oft interesting (and useful) classifieds in the back and articles from people in the know.

Then, there was "The Hard Edge". Of course you think you know where this letter is going.

Over the years, Computer Shopper created more than a specs-and-prices magazine. It created a community of technology fans, united by one monthly mag that touted the latest industry offerings, dished dirt and offered a forum for readers to connect with writers and one another.

The internet has not replaced the need for such a magazine. I can't curl up and read the internet on a plane. The usefulness of the printed page has not been diminished; the laptop screen has far from usurped the power of intelligent, interesting printed reading.

I'm not showing the signs of my upcoming 18-34 demo shift, I'm merely offering that a generation of readers has been left behind by the new wave of slick also-rans who don't know how to reach us anymore.

Computer Shopper succeeded because it won on two fronts. First, and foremost, it placed a treasure trove of product data and company advertisements in a single forum. It pioneered the concept of "advertising AS content" in the print industry. Your research probably tells you that the search engine has largely replaced the initial usefulness of Computer Shopper, therefore you must change your editorial focus and become exclusively product-heavy to fight off extinction.

Obviously you haven't talked to me.

I make purchases. I buy servers, clients, software, peripherals and services - and I buy them by the truckload. I'm in the target demographic of those who are interested in the inside of the computer industry, not just the latest specs on the new iMac or whogivesadamn about the latest camcorder.

As I make purchases, I read the trades. I want to be informed about companies, products and specific knowledge I can't get simply by using Google and looking for something.

I also want to be entertained with industry news, intracompany spats, technological marvels and the latest thoughts from Gates, Dell, et al. Computer Shopper used to provide all that in one nice, unglossy 700 page format.

Now we all know the old CS is extinct for a myriad of justifiable reasons. Even I couldn't blame you for not wanting to kill postmen in choice zip codes with a publication large enough to contain the platforms of every national political party.

I bitched when "Hard Edge" was trimmed several years ago. It was sad. Month after month, Hard Edge enabled me to peruse a few pages of the human element of computing, reading interesting notes about people, concepts and gossip unavailable anywhere else.

So Computer Shopper decided it would go "all product all the time" and kill what last vestige of entertaining uberwisdom that remained. So all computer mag readers are simply robots looking for the latest specs on voice-over-IP, gently simmered for a couple of months to account for press time. Bullshit.

I'm a huge fan of the internet and have developed strong database-enabled, multi-platform web portals and sites for years now. However, the internet is a pretty bland place without intriguing content.

The Computer Shopper used to arrive as a monthly treat in addition to its service as an outstanding resource. I'd sit down for the monthly ritual of studying new technology, watching the advertisers come and go while enjoying every last minute of Hard Edge, Stan Veit, John Dvorak and all the others. It was my favorite magazine.

I'm now in the heart of my career, finally able to budget for items your magazine has been attempting to sell me for years.

Your problem is this. The internet has replicated every service you can provide in the "advertising as content" format. I can go anywhere and price search down to the last, least and tiniest spec and see every type of comparison graphed and sorted just how I like. I don't need the advertising in Computer Shopper to show me information on commodity hardware or current prices anymore.

When Computer Shopper was "The Industry's Newspaper" (so to speak and to borrow a phrase), advertisers reached my somewhat valuable eyes in amongst my enjoyment of VALUABLE, INTERESTING CONTENT.

Honestly, I couldn't give a rat's ass what you think about the latest Dell Latitude. However, I'd read the review and possibly consider the product because Computer Shopper had so much more interesting elements to offer.

That time has passed. When my subscription to Computer Shopper expires in April of 2005, I'll let it expire - gently and permanently joining all the other publications over-editorialized into obsolescence.

It's a sad day at (my address) Drive, Ringgold, GA USA. Alice and Bill, among others, have my thanks for a decade and a half of true geekly entertainment. If you're the editor that chopped two pages of brilliance, then you are one incalculable http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=idiot.

Should you ever care to do some market research, I've left my phone number.

Cordially,

Jason Matt Kibby
Raised on Computer Shopper
706-937-2110

# posted by Anonymous 4:17 PM

Jason Kirby says it all. The Shopper he mourns was both my creation and the indicator of the explosive growth of the personal computer industry. People used toi tell me that all we had was ads! However being a Postal Second Class Matter publiucation required us to have 25% Editorial content. In a 1200 page magazine that is 300 pages of editorial, more than any other computer magazine. Of course about 100 pages were lists and index pages which counted as editorial. That left 200 solid pages of editorial. with that many pages I could lavishly cover everything in the industry. Today editors do not have anywhere as many pages to work with and they do not have many technical people writing for them. The result is a magazine consisting of re-written press releases and evaluations by a couple of guys in a lab. Our reviews came form people who were actually using the equipment in real situations.
Stan Veit

# posted by Stan Veit 6:42 PM

Jason Kirby says it all. The Shopper he mourns was both my creation and the indicator of the explosive growth of the personal computer industry. People used toi tell me that all we had was ads! However being a Postal Second Class Matter publiucation required us to have 25% Editorial content. In a 1200 page magazine that is 300 pages of editorial, more than any other computer magazine. Of course about 100 pages were lists and index pages which counted as editorial. That left 200 solid pages of editorial. with that many pages I could lavishly cover everything in the industry. Today editors do not have anywhere as many pages to work with and they do not have many technical people writing for them. The result is a magazine consisting of re-written press releases and evaluations by a couple of guys in a lab. Our reviews came form people who were actually using the equipment in real situations.
Stan Veit

# posted by Stan Veit 6:42 PM

Jason Kirby says it all. The Shopper he mourns was both my creation and the indicator of the explosive growth of the personal computer industry. People used toi tell me that all we had was ads! However being a Postal Second Class Matter publiucation required us to have 25% Editorial content. In a 1200 page magazine that is 300 pages of editorial, more than any other computer magazine. Of course about 100 pages were lists and index pages which counted as editorial. That left 200 solid pages of editorial. with that many pages I could lavishly cover everything in the industry. Today editors do not have anywhere as many pages to work with and they do not have many technical people writing for them. The result is a magazine consisting of re-written press releases and evaluations by a couple of guys in a lab. Our reviews came form people who were actually using the equipment in real situations.
Stan Veit

# posted by Stan Veit 6:42 PM

Jason Kirby says it all. The Shopper he mourns was both my creation and the indicator of the explosive growth of the personal computer industry. People used toi tell me that all we had was ads! However being a Postal Second Class Matter publiucation required us to have 25% Editorial content. In a 1200 page magazine that is 300 pages of editorial, more than any other computer magazine. Of course about 100 pages were lists and index pages which counted as editorial. That left 200 solid pages of editorial. with that many pages I could lavishly cover everything in the industry. Today editors do not have anywhere as many pages to work with and they do not have many technical people writing for them. The result is a magazine consisting of re-written press releases and evaluations by a couple of guys in a lab. Our reviews came form people who were actually using the equipment in real situations.
Stan Veit

# posted by Stan Veit 6:42 PM

Jason Kirby says it all. The Shopper he mourns was both my creation and the indicator of the explosive growth of the personal computer industry. People used toi tell me that all we had was ads! However being a Postal Second Class Matter publiucation required us to have 25% Editorial content. In a 1200 page magazine that is 300 pages of editorial, more than any other computer magazine. Of course about 100 pages were lists and index pages which counted as editorial. That left 200 solid pages of editorial. with that many pages I could lavishly cover everything in the industry. Today editors do not have anywhere as many pages to work with and they do not have many technical people writing for them. The result is a magazine consisting of re-written press releases and evaluations by a couple of guys in a lab. Our reviews came form people who were actually using the equipment in real situations.
Stan Veit

# posted by Stan Veit 6:42 PM