Posted by Joe Panettieri
I’ve spent the last few weeks immersed in Web 2.0 technologies, social networks, RSS feeds … and the list goes on. We continue to build out our digital businesses. But during three key moments today, I rediscovered my love for magazines. First, I thumbed through a custom magazine we recently produced CompTIA, which traced the organization’s 25 years of service to the IT industry. Then the latest edition of TechIQ, our magazine for the IT channel, hit my desk (it’s a great read but I won’t brag too much). And finally, I stumbled upon the latest edition of Money magazine. Yes, Money magazine. I hate to admit it, but I still love that magazine’s ability to tell me what I already know about my pathetic saving and spending habits.
When I launched my career in 1992 at CMP Media, I turned to Money magazine for financial advice. I considered it “Finance for Dummies” — since it offered some basic investment ideas for starting my nest egg. Sure, Money frequently missed the mark. (The magazine actually defended Enron’s accounting multiple times before the company went bankrupt. And MCI Worldcom was on Money’s list of top 70 investments for several years.) But it also directed me to low-cost mutual funds from Vanguard, and blue chip stocks that pay dividends.
Somewhere around the time my wife and I purchased a house and started a family, I stopped reading Money. That was almost a decade ago.
But earlier today, I stumbled onto Money magazine again. Sure, the magazine’s research amounts to little more than talking heads saying buy, sell or hold. And stock pickers continue to promote their own agendas. But I read it with eyes wide open. My reaction? Money still provides some basic financial advice and timely reminders (memo to self: pump more money into the kid’s college accounts).
Overall, I’m glad Money is still printed on paper. And I plan to fill out an online subscription form for the print edition — as soon as I take a break from blogging and testing more Web 2.0 goodies.
