My previous post against my stack of unread magazines has brought another matter to mind.
The sources of my technical information have shifted substantially in the past 18 months.
Previously, my sources of technical information were fairly evenly divided between browsing technology sites like CodeProject, GotDotNet, MSDN, ASP.net, etc. and reading magazines and books.
These days, I first turn my blogroll to get pointers to articles, news and books that could be of interest. Periodically, maybe weekly, I visit the portal sites like TheServerSide and MSDN, but often I’ve already read the articles that interest me because they were called out by blog entries. I turn to books for in-depth tutorials and reference. Magazines, simply because I have no time left, come in last.
The first shift for me is that much of the time I used to spend reading magazines is now invested in reading blogs.
Some magazines, like MSDN, have adapted well and offer their content freely on the web (and as Stephen Toub points out, you can even read MSDN on your PDA.) I enjoy MSDN, having been a reader through the days of Microsoft Systems Journal and Microsoft Interactive Developer. I plan to continue subscribing because they consistently produce quality work and I want to support that. There also remains an undeniable convenience in having a portable, pre-printed and colorful version of articles delivered to your mailbox. Yet the fact remains that today I need to be more selective in choosing how much of that content I will read.
Another shift has been that the role which some technology sites play of being pointers to other sites and articles has been eclipsed by blogs. I subscribe to the blogs of people working in the same areas I do and consequently, their posts lead me to the very same articles I would have clicked on had I been browsing the web myself. Sites such as TheServerSide and CodeProject continue to hold their value because they are sources of content, not just pointers to other places. I no longer rely on web sites to point out content for me, I have a community of like-minded people who do that very well.
Have many people experienced similar shifts? Are there other sources of information you rely on? Have blogs made magazines less relevant for you? What technology sites still hold their value as sources of information, and not simply as lists of pointers?
-Chris