History Popular Hot Rodding also gone!

I think you might mean "Thanks for the entertainment,boys..." Otherwise, it looks like you are grateful for entertainment boys which may point us into a sexual orientation you don't care to divulge. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Ah, the importance of grammar.

 

Mee too chaz.
Two problems though, one, the "suits" at The Oregonian decided that to save money, they would go digital half the week (without a refund to me), and two, it's damn difficult to take a fullsize computer to the crapper in the morning, and the Missus hates it when I take her tablet in there when I'm doing my business, sheesh, what's the world coming to.
Now get off my lawn.

 

Change is not always good. This is one of those cases. Print media is still the best.

 

ahhhh,what a comma will do these days! I think you knew what I meant! And Jerry was/is correct=Not that there is anything wrong with that........LMFAO

 

This is an interesting thread to be sure however I think we should post things that are relevant NOW.
In case you didn't know, it's 2016.

 

Penthouse is also going away.....

 

I actually liked PHR in the nineties, they did some pretty solid engine tech articles at that time. Vizards tow/torque BBC was a good series, for one. A lot of guys on here wouldn't have liked it at all, he gored a few sacred cows in there, but there was some good solid info, especially some of the stuff on booster selection.

 

Popular Hot Rodding died long before they nailed the lid on the coffin. They turned it into "pro touring monthly" years ago. It's a shame because it was one of the best back in the 1970's.

 

When's the last time you walked in to your local Record Store?
Not that there's much to buy anymore......Book stores going the same way.

 

I'm glad to hear that City Newsstand is still around, I used to stop in at the Cicero Ave location weekly when I lived down there about 20 years ago.

If folks commenting are serious about keeping magazines around, start buying some at your local newsstand. You may be surprised at what is still out there. How about we add the name of a local business to patronize in our comments?

To that end, unfortunately Greenfield News and Hobby up here closed recently, but a little shop in West Allis WI "Booked Solid" has TONS of magazines of all sorts, as far as car stuff goes they even carry hard to find titles like "Rolls and Pleats" the excellent international Rod and Custom periodical.

 

Blue
That is precicely why I posted it, this subject is far from being a 2016 issue.
I'm not gonna try to tell you what you already know; the pure fact is, is that the HAMB is based on tradition, and your proposal of keeping discussions here relevant to 2016 is a bit of a dichotomy, based on the whole premise of our guidelines.
The neat thing about posting links, either you click on them or you don't, it's your call.

 

Come on Dennis, the "sell through" hardly covered the distribution and print costs. You are correct that advertising is where the actual salaries are paid from. And at some point ad dollars became the main focus, to support the stock values, and most readers were smart enough to notice.

Passion interests like cars just don't play well with corporate goals. In the 40 years I have been in "the industry" I've seen the masthead of most corporate magazines bulging with $200K+ management and corporate names, while the editorial and production lists shrank smaller and smaller. Today most edit is "freelance" or produced by one or two writers for several titles.

Pete Petersen made a huge fortune, even while he paid his staff very well. He didn't have stock holders to please and the 11th floor held only a handfull of execs. The cost-cutting, "everything flows to the top" corporate mentality eventually kills everything in its path - just ask Flint Michigan.

 

I should have quantified my post that circulation drives ad rates and that in turn determines the financial success of the magazine. I'm glad I'm retired!

 

Yes, that's better. I had the same thought as Fritz when I read your first post. My wife owns a hair salon, you should see the number of totally unsolicited magazines that get dumped through our mail slot every month. I don't think the money from sales really even enters into it any more, all they care about is that they can say to their advertisers 'hey, look at our circulation numbers!!".

 

Fritz
They seem to be working at Sports Illustrated.
For some reason I'm a sports fan when "that" issue comes out.
Hmmmmm, maybe the hot rod related car rag biz should take a hint from them and quit pandering to the "goody too shoes" types.

 

I am not a one-trick pony "if its not trad it sucks" type, and I bought Hot Rod, Car Craft and PHR for decades. With the editorial direction their "tech articles" have taken, I rarely even bother to flip through them. Comp Cams & Edelbrock have their catalogs on line, I don't need to drop $6-$7 on a magazine to read that stuff. I'd still be buying them and reading them if they weren't so BLATANTLY shilling for those two companies.
Its pretty sad when you have name shops that do some of these so-called "dyno test" articles openly talking on internet forums about "I have been asked to build a motor for an article for Emap publication X, and I need to make this intake/cam look good, bla, bla, bla"...

 

I was going to say the very same thing when I was shopping for good car mags for a gearhead paraplegic friend of mine. Two rows of gun magazines and precious few hot rod mags.

 

Yep. Is there any car built in Street Rodder or Hot Rod that dosen't have a Fatman under it? No problem with the 'man, just two corporate build mags. I still get both, though Sr will be the 1st to go. Carcraft at least gives you part#'s and costs.

 

EMAP? EMAP hasn't been in the automotive publishing business for 15 years LOL

 

Dropped SR years ago when it dawned on me all the tech articles were about advertisers products (and sbc's). Didn't renew it, after R.C. demise for the same reason.

 

Print media can no longer compete with sites like the hamb nor can it be expected to. Personally like both however if an answer is needed now the obvious source is hop online. Its apples and oranges simple as that. Two different tools in our toolboxes so to speak. And we'll all be having this conversation once again the next time another magazine folds. One thing I know if you stopped buying the magazine for whatever reason you helped in its demise.

 

Don't forget the Evanston store.

 

Not sure why my thread from 2014 has suddenly revived!
I stick to what I said. To the "no big deal " folks, do you realize that the demise of the printed word on paper is a very drastic change. Like a dawn of time change. A huge part of the development of civilization was the transition from all knowledge being recorded by memory , then to scribes, then movable type. Seems like we are moving backwards, not forward despite the superficial enthusiasm of tech fans. Change is not necessarily advancement. As I said, many of you are missing the point!

 

Gary
Like many in our age group, I can no longer afford 5 or 6 magazines every month like I used to (for years), I don't like it a bit, reality bites.
Thankfully we have the HAMB, because honestly we have something going here that has no equal on the WWW.
Like @Zapato said though, it's apples and oranges, one really can't replace the other.
I feel like a dog without a bone, my car rags have been my best friend at many periods in my life, at least 47 years.
Popular Hot Rodding was one of my favorites, one I could relate to, mainly because it had more of a "grass roots" feel about it, not quite as much glitz and glamour compared to some of the others.

 

But 99% of all car mags are shit anyways, so no big loss.

i always pass by the magazines when grocery shopping because i know they are all toilet paper.

We should be more concerned about the CONTENT rather than medium, be it print or online.

 

"But 99% of all car mags are shit anyways, so no big loss.

i always pass by the magazines when grocery shopping because i know they are all toilet paper.

We should be more concerned about the CONTENT rather than medium, be it print or online."

As I said, many of you will completely miss the point. Any point. Sheeeeesh.

 

Guess that kinda shows how long its been since I read Car Craft/Hot Rod regularly...

 

I still get a few mags but I know I shouldn't as the HAMB has it all except one very important aspect which are the car profiles. Wouldn't it be great if the HAMB developed a division where you could profile your or a friend's car and submit a series of photos along with a tech sheet. Thoughts?