It was with a heavy heart that I read the editor’s note from the bright orange 01/09, Vol.31/No. 01 issue Studio Monthly magazine. Titled Going Digital and Meaning It, it was an announcement that anyone who reads the production and post trades knew was coming … it was only a matter of time. Many of the trade publications have slowly shrunk in size recently to where they feel less like a magazine in your hand and more like a pamphlet or brochure. It’s not just the magazines of the film and video business that are slimming in size. Other trades are experiencing the same things. I’ve even noticed my local free alternative newspaper slimming down in size recently as well as Wired magazine. I’m sure Studio Monthly won’t be the last trade mag to stop the physical printing and delivery of a magazine.

I guess so goes the circle of life for a medium that is so heavily dependent on advertising. The ads pay the bills of pretty much any free printed publication so when that revenue dries up then something has to give. In the case of Studio Monthly it will now be delivered in an online format with the occasional print version being published “four times a year around important trade shows.” If you combine the immediacy of the Internet, the intensive coverage of different blogs and the less dollars spent on advertising in the current economy then  it’s easy to see why such a decision was made.

But I am going to miss _______________ (insert Studio Monthly or any other trade mag that might cease publication in the future). There’s something comforting about opening my mailbox and seeing the edge of a magazine’s pages curled around the bills and junk mail. I may already know about the new gear spotlighted or have the scoop on whatever news is being presented but there’s inevitably something I have missed or something that I only gave a cursory glance online that I discover or rediscover on the printed page. I always find myself digesting a lot more reviews via that printed word than I do with the digital word. Thumbing through a mag the first time gives an easy summary of a particular products +’s and -‘s only to come back later read the details. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have about a 5:1 ratio of reading in depth cases studies in a magazine vs. online. And I haven’t even mentioned the tutorials …. oh the tutorials. While I know you can’t watch a QuickTime in a magazine, you can’t rip a Flash-based how-to out of your computer and put it in a file folder to complete later. Of course there is always the argument that you can print out anything you find on the web but I find that I just don’t print as many online articles as I find myself reading in a magazine. And as we all know, printing costs money. Refilling your inkjet printer is not a cheap proposition. Better someone else foot that bill than me!

But the biggest reason I will miss Studio Monthly and any other trade publication that goes away is this: I stare at a computer screen for most of the day …. every day. It might be the purple haze of Avid Media Composer starting back or the nearly black surroundings of Adobe’s CS4 suite but it’s the computer screen no matter how you slice it. When the editing is done there’s still checking email, reading the blogs, following up on a forum post or updating the iCal. And I didn’t even mention the time spent on the iPhone screen with Twitter, my to do list and more email. Folding that magazine back upon itself and holding it over my head while I’m contorted over my living room couch is something that I am going to miss once they are all gone. It’s great to always have an old issue tucked into my bag when I go out to lunch alone or find that unexpected half-hour of quiet time. I’ll miss the way the glossy paper feels in my hands. I’ll miss the full color images from front to back. I’ll even miss the endless B&H ads and how they made me remember past trips to New York City. My wife won’t miss the clutter when there are less magazines lying around the house though. My recycle bin will most certainly get lighter. Maybe my back will appreciate that.