by Jason Snell
CNET launches a print magazine
I know, I did a double-take too:
CNET will print about 200,000 copies of the inaugural issue of the magazine, which will carry articles of its own rather than recycling content from cnet.com. Among the first issue’s articles are “The Ultimate Tech Gift Guide,” “Driving Reinvented: The 2014 Tesla Model S” and “Should You Wait for the Apple Watch — or Not?”
It’s probably a little early for me to know how I feel about this. Print as a premium product is probably not a bad idea, if it can reach a strong demographic (i.e., people with a lot of money to spend) and advertisers who still want to spend on print.
So it’s not as crazy an idea as it sounds. Just don’t expect a renaissance of print; this is a quarterly magazine, probably a hybrid of coffee-table book and advertising supplement. Still. A new paper tech magazine. Don’t look so smug, trees—you’re not home free yet.