Two of my more favorite 1/1 scale car mags....

[tim boyd]

...appear to be undergoing major changes today.

Other web sites are reporting that Rod and Custom will no longer be printed, and that much of the Automobile Magazine staff has been let go and their Ann Arbor offices will be closed. A sad, sad day for print enthusiasts.

TIM

[Harry P.]

Going digital only... or going away altogether?

[tim boyd]

Going digital only... or going away altogether?

Harry....varying post and theories on this regarding both mags - not clear as to the correct answer (at least from the posts I saw). There was no R&C at all in the new org chart they showed....TIM

[High octane]

As I've said before, a lot of todays' car magazines are pretty lame and I've taken to collecting car mags from the 60's. 'Bout the only mags I buy today are Elapsed Times and I subscribe to Gasser Magazine. I love reading the Hot Rod mags from the 50's & 60's and also the Super Stock mags from the 60's as well.

[bobthehobbyguy]

As I've said before, a lot of todays' car magazines are pretty lame and I've taken to collecting car mags from the 60's. 'Bout the only mags I buy today are Elapsed Times and I subscribe to Gasser Magazine. I love reading the Hot Rod mags from the 50's & 60's and also the Super Stock mags from the 60's as well.[/quote,

I agree that the currents mags leave a lot to be desired.

I like Rodders Journal, Elapsed Times , Hot Rod Deluxe.

Gave up on Rod and Custom, Hot Rod, and most of the Source interlink mags a long time ago.

Edited May 30, 2014 by bobthehobbyguy

[1930fordpickup]

So how does the Digital thing work?

Can you down load the issue and save on a flash drive or do you have to keep paying every year to go back and look at them later?

[Greg Myers]

I agree that the currents mags leave a lot to be desired. Like Rodders Journal, Elapsed Times , Hot Rod Deluxe.

Gave up on Rod and Custom, Hot Rod, and most of the Source interlink mags a long time ago.

You like these ? Rodders Journal, Elapsed Times , Hot Rod Deluxe. or you think they leave a lot to be desired ?

[Greg Myers]

Motor Trend Classics is also gone.

[Greg Myers]

I enjoyed these as well they didn't last long either

[bobthehobbyguy]

You like these ? Rodders Journal, Elapsed Times , Hot Rod Deluxe. or you think they leave a lot to be desired ?

Thanks for pointing that out I changed it to I like those mags. Those 2 small format R and C were great but they only did those 2..

Edited May 30, 2014 by bobthehobbyguy

[Brett Barrow]

So how does the Digital thing work?

Can you down load the issue and save on a flash drive or do you have to keep paying every year to go back and look at them later?

I have a Kindle Fire, I can tell you how it works on that. Source Interlink uses the Kindle's Newstand Store. You download the issue into the device. The default setting is to keep 2 issues of each title in the device's physical memory at a time, and the rest in cloud storage, but you can chose to "save" an issue and it will keep as many as you have space for on the device so you can access them even when you're not connected to the internet. I can also access the magazines from my smartphone and any computer connected to the internet with a Kindle reader app.

Some other magazines use a web-based service like PocketMags/Magazine Cloner. They operate just like the regular Kindle mags except you install an app on the device. But you can read those magazines from any computer on the internet without installing an app.

I've been doing digital magazines for at least 5 years (been that long since I bought a paper magazine except for Model Cars and Hot Rod Deluxe, I wish they'd go digital!) across several devices and I've never lost one. Every one I bought I can still read, even if I've canceled my subscription.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Brett Barrow

[High octane]

I remember the little mags very well as they only cost 25 cents back then and would fit inside my text book while I read them in class back in the 60's, and yes I did get caught a couple of times. As far as digital publications go, I'm a dinosaur and just because we're in the 21st century doesn't mean I'm goin' to jump right in with both feet. Like I said before, I like reading the articles, looking at the photos of the cars, and seeing the old ads for car parts, motor oils, accessories, etc. in the mags from the 60's. While lots of things change over time, some don't.

[LDO]

Except that magazines are BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH unless they're stuck in 1969.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic.

[1930fordpickup]

Thank You Brett , That is what I was wondering about going Digital . I only have a flip phone and a desk top, so the app thing is lost on me. I just do not like to lose things I pay for , unless I choose to do so. After all All mags start on Digital anymore so they should be cheaper. yea right. LOL

[Brett Barrow]

Thank You Brett , That is what I was wondering about going Digital . I only have a flip phone and a desk top, so the app thing is lost on me. I just do not like to lose things I pay for , unless I choose to do so. After all All mags start on Digital anymore so they should be cheaper. yea right. LOL

"App" is just what we called "programs" a few years ago. Digital magazines are usually cheaper than print, at least the ones I do are. I just re-upped my sub to Muscle Car Review the other day, it was $14.99, print is $19.99, plus on the Kindle the first 30 days are free when you sign up to a new magazine. Some mags charge a once-a-year price, others, like Scale Auto, do it by issue, it's $2.33 per issue which it think is about half price a print sub.

[Harry P.]

Isn't it possible to download any digital file, including magazines, to your desktop? Just in case you want to, I mean. Theoretically you could subscribe to a digital magazine and still download the file and print it out any time, if you wanted to do that.

[keyser]

Cheaper to take digital copy to Kinko's and have them print it. Never tried though, all my digital stuff, journals are just fine as is.

Home network has 14 nodes and shares everything, photos, digital media, all of it. Once you switch, you'll never go back.

30 years of CAR scanned, collection sold. Searchable in seconds. From my phone, wherever.

[tim boyd]

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Source Interlink Media Distribution, a SIM company that handles distribution of many magazines to newstands, is basically ceasing operations.

According to the WSJ story, this came after one of their biggest magazine sources said earlier this week, they would no longer do business with SIM Distribution.

While the article did not mention the closing of the various SIM magazines this past Thursday and the concurrent rebranding of that company, the two events could be related in that they are both part of SIM overall.

If you have access to today's Wall Street Journal, definitely check out the article.

TIM

[Rob Hall]

Interesting...I just got my digital issue of Automobile a couple days ago, along w/ Car & Driver and Road & Track. I read them on my Kindle Fire HD tablet. I also get digital subcriptions to Scale Auto and the Hemmings magazines. The only car magazines I still get in print are Collectible Automobile, F1 Racing, and Motorsport.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Well, with fewer and fewer people seeming to be able to actually read and comprehend what they're reading, it's no wonder mags are going away. Why not just deliver abbreviated moron-content via text message or some other idiot app, and be done with it ?

Worthwhile "hard" content has been shrinking for years, and most mags are mostly "gee whiz lookit that!!" with little to no technical value, or advertising disguised as "how to" articles.

The guys who actually DO something with cars will still figure it out, print mags or not.

I seriously believe journalists held themselves to a higher standard back in the days when their words were actually typeset. There is just SO MUCH WRONG INFORMATION being pumped out digitally by folks who either don't know or don't care enough to get it right, it's appalling to anyone who knows the real deal AND pays attention.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Well, with fewer and fewer people seeming to be able to actually read and comprehend what they're reading, it's no wonder mags are going away. Why not just deliver abbreviated moron-content via text message or some other idiot app, and be done with it ?

Worthwhile "hard" content has been shrinking for years, and most mags are mostly "gee whiz lookit that!!" with little to no technical value, or advertising disguised as "how to" articles.

The guys who actually DO something with cars will still figure it out, print mags or not.

I seriously believe journalists held themselves to a higher standard back in the days when their words were actually typeset. There is just SO MUCH WRONG INFORMATION being pumped out digitally by folks who either don't know or don't care enough to get it right, it's appalling to anyone who knows the real deal AND pays attention.

I think you're slightly off-base here.

Before the advent of digital mass media, the only people involved in "journalism" and in producing books, magazines, etc. were professionals, with training, who did it for a living.

Today, literally anyone can publish a digital magazine, book, blog, etc. You no longer need an actual publisher and an actual copy editor and an actual staff and an actual printing plant to produce an e-zine or e-book. Any schmuck in his parent's basement can put out anything digitally, whether it's high quality content or pure garbage, to a worldwide audience of billions.

So that's why the increase in krap. It's not that the ""real" journalists no longer exist or have all suddenly lost their abilities... it's the fact they are being overshadowed by all the new electronic media, that by its nature doesn't need anyone but one ill-informed goof to produce and distribute.

[Rob Hall]

Also in the era of the 24hr news cycle and loads of automotive websites (Autoblog, the sites for magazines like Car & Driver, etc) a problem with a monthly magazine is that the news contained within is often old news by the time the magazine comes out, esp. with the long lead times for print.

[tim boyd]

Before the advent of digital mass media, the only people involved in "journalism" and in producing books, magazines, etc. were professionals, with training, who did it for a living.

Today, literally anyone can publish a digital magazine, book, blog, etc. You no longer need an actual publisher and an actual copy editor and an actual staff and an actual printing plant to produce an e-zine or e-book. Any schmuck in his parent's basement can put out anything digitally, whether it's high quality content or pure garbage, to a worldwide audience of billions.

So that's why the increase in krap. It's not that the ""real" journalists no longer exist or have all suddenly lost their abilities... it's the fact they are being overshadowed by all the new electronic media, that by its nature doesn't need anyone but one ill-informed goof to produce and distribute.

Thanks Harry for adding a print publisher/editor perspective, and for what it's worth, I fully agree with you. TIM

[1930fordpickup]

As far as the current Journalist writing for the magazines . They are what is left after the wholesale retirement of the boomers . A perfect example , how many times do we see photos that go across the center of a magazine anymore. It ruins the picture when it goes into the fold. High School Journalism 101 for page layout . How do they miss this? Because they are doing the layout on a computer.

[Brett Barrow]

Also in the era of the 24hr news cycle and loads of automotive websites (Autoblog, the sites for magazines like Car & Driver, etc) a problem with a monthly magazine is that the news contained within is often old news by the time the magazine comes out, esp. with the long lead times for print.

That was one problem with Rod & Custom lately, a lot of the tech stuff was culled from HAMB threads. And a lot of the cars were featured on there, too. The Teixeira 40 Willys Gasser, for example, was built on there in 2008 and featured in R&C last year.