First Annual Reader Appreciation Day on Wine-Blog: Don’t forget to comment each day with your name during this week. It’s for the drawing… a pair of gorgeous Riedel Vinum etched glasses from my PSILY stash. The winner will be announced this Saturday morning on Wine-Blog. Good luck! Just in time for Thanksgiving…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But, are they, or is it all just becoming a more expanded media universe?
Check out these statistics, and be your own judge.
Hmmm…I wonder what Gary V would say in reply. Personally, none of my kids read magazines (9 to 17) and most of the ones I used to get I’ve now canceled because I just have the time to read them. Guess I’m just what you’d call a bad data point.
I hear you, Kevin. These stats are astounding, and my house is full of magazines, but I’m on the comp list.
I spend a lot of time looking at them, though, and do pay for Coastal Living.
I’m surrounded by books and magazines. I’m flexible with most things, but not my magazines.
Gourmet just went out of print (Nov. last issue), and this was a Conde Nast money maker… Go figure.
I’ve entered you into the Riedel glass drawing for Saturday.
Thanks for your opinion and comments. I value them.
Kind of ironic: a slick print-mag promo via YouTube…
I think the sad demise of Gourmet was a turning point for epicurean magazines. Though I doubt it was the Internet that is directly to blame for Gourmet going under, I do think that people who love wine and food are very rapidly becoming comfortable with the idea that high-quality editorial — and even photography — is more readily available than ever online. Zester Daily and Palate Press (which I edit) are two examples of recent online entries that are already enjoying robust traffic.
And the fact that, from a production standpoint, Web publishing is monumentally cheaper AND faster than magazine publishing is only going to encourage more online content.
Two more factors favoring Web over mags: Those who enjoy the “conversation” about wine and food, Web mags offer a dynamic that just can’t be had in print: comments. And if you need to look something up, there is no substitute for searching online, where, searches are more apt to turn up blogs than print mags’ sites in my experience (though I really don’t understand how SEs really work).
I do agree that reading online is fundamentally different than holding something in your hands, but I also wonder whether that feeling will be better satisfied in the future by books rather than magazines. Time will tell….
Tish,
All excellent points, and I agree with every one of them, including being intrigued with the concept and your wondering about being more satisfied with books rather than magazines.
More than once I’ve heard people say that they enjoy the comfort of curing up with a good book or magazine. Curling up with a computer just isn’t the same, but this may be generational. No one gets off on jousting, any more… That too was generational.
All things change and must pass.
I found these statistics to be amazing, and so I shared, and have left the judging and comments to you all. I think I’ll be the laggard with magazines, because they’ve been a part of my fabric for so long, but will adapt once they are gone… the route of Gourmet.
Thanks for your comments, Tish. I’m putting you into the drawing for the Riedel. They are gorgeous red wine glasses (Vinum series). Best wishes for great holidaze!
I keep hearing people say that social media will end (once and for all) the influence of the major wine publications. But wineries would do well to remember that this is still a three-tier system, and even if our consumers are paying more attention to social media and the internet, many of our big wholesalers still sell wine the old fashioned way: by using scores. We may be in transition, but magazines and other publications will be with us for a long time to come.
I have a chance to wine a Riedel glass?… LOVE Riedel. Just this morning my wife made fruit and yogurt parfaits in our Riedel Cab glasses…
Jo, I would add that I think epicurean books stand a better chance of surviving/thriving than epicurean magazines for two reasons:
1) in wine at least, much of what people actually need/want to know is already better laid out in books than in mags. That holds for deep knowledge as well beginner basics. Mags hold the edge over books for recommendations of current releases, but there again Web trumps print.
2) Foodwise, I think cookbooks have weathered all sorts of economic tides. Most cooks I know develop a real fondness for the genre in general as well as specific titles. Over time they become like old friends, whereas mags are less apt to earn a spot on a kitchen shelf or in a book case.
Rusty, your point is well made. However, the Internet is starting to show people just how ratings are closer to a dime a dozen than to sage advice. Plus wine reps I have spoken to recently are saying that good merchants are paying less and less attention to points… and more attention to price.
Interesting times…
Tish,
I believe you’re right on all counts. I have my first cookbook (ever) with duck tape on the binding, as ridiculous as that is, because it’s a Betty Crocker. It taught me the basics, and now it sits with Mark Miller’s Red Sage, Giuliano Bugialli’s Foods of Italy, and Fialho Gastronomia Alentejana ~ Alentejo cuisine by Alberto Franco. Let’s just say, I have a book cawithand rest for the classics I’ve read along the way. I’m not the usual collector, but collecting books has been a priority in my life, and continues to be. I have more books than clothing by a drastic measure.
And, yes, you have a chance at the Riedel, and they’re big enough to hold a few parfaits. They’re gorgeous. Good luck with it. If you get them, they’ll impress you. I gave some to SH a couple of years ago, and he still loves/uses them for red wine tastings.