It don't seem entirely fair to throw chondrites at them poor little Bay State & Badger State astro-zines from here in cyber-space.
What strikes me is that magazines still offer variety - in S&T I find a wide range of topics about all aspects of astronomy with forays into planetary geology and atmospheric science, related aspects of history, etc.
There's also a range of styles and tone.
Over about 4 months I read each issue cover to cover.
I don't read every post on CN, there are too many and while I'm a regular reader here, the ambience is different. The magazines are moderated AND edited, and I don't need to sit in front of a monitor - I can snatch 5 minutes of short columns over coffee or plow through the monthly in-depth features on a flight or over lunch.
On CN we can click to drill in to our favorite topics - and if we are not careful - we stay narrowly focussed on those topics.
While I skip thru a magazine on a first reading, I eventually read the whole thing, and that is an antidote to the narrowing and filtering of interest and attention in all things that Susan Jacoby has described about our society.
The magazines will never have everything just for 'you' (no matter whether 'you' are an expert observer impatient with basics, a super imager, a gearhead, an eager beginner, or an armchair cosmic philosopher), because they try hard to have something for everybody. I don't mind that, and the surprises about things I didn't know or wasn't sure I'd like are nice.
While S&T or mags in general ain't what they used to be, this bird and Uncle Rod can probably say that about a lot of things compared to 2 or 3 decades ago. They still get the job done, and ain't all THAT bad either!
EDIT: I've got to add that it's really nice to see Uncle Rod and his astro blog here on CN!
In this particular case, I disagree with some points, maybe because:
1) having grown up on paper (mags and books) I see electrons as a supplement and not a replacement (oddly I usually find sharing paper - a mag, a book or chart, a TESM printout - more interactive than sharing electrons, then again that could mean I 'just don't get it'), and
2) I read a lot of the on-line critiques of paper magazines as wishing for more and more specialization - and that makes me afraid we'll be unlucky enough to get what we wish for.
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