You heard it hear first — okay, you probably already heard it somewhere else. But it’s worth marking the imminent death of Mad Magazine. I was never really a fan of Mad, but it was so omnipresent in my teen years that it still feels like a blow. The article says part of the problem is that Mad-style satire is now common everywhere. Then again, one of my Atomic Junkshop co-bloggers said that should have made it a perfect time for Mad to take the role Cracked did as a kind of online satire and commentary central. But it never happened.
Reading Fran of the Floods got me curious about the many strips I read in my sisters’ Diana and other books. If you’re at all curious, this is a good source. New Statesman gives a historical overview; I’m a little disappointed to learn the girls’ comics market has apparently died out, though as noted at the link there’s a lot of reprinting in trade paperback going on.
Microsoft is shutting the Microsoft Bookstore. And when it does, whatever ebooks you’ve bought will cease to exist.
Isabel Cooper on why originality is over-rated.
The days when Hulu and Netflix could stream almost everything we wanted to watch are going as everyone launches streaming services. As Mighty God King says, if it takes three or more streaming services to watch everything we want, what’s the point of cutting the cord? I haven’t watched Star Trek: Discovery because it’s CBS streaming, nor have I caught Doom Patrol (though I will probably subscribe later this summer, just long enough to watch it).
Another article (I don’t have the link) argued that this used to be the dream: instead of having everything bundled together, allow us to pick and choose what we want to watch! Why the fuss? I certainly wanted un-bundling, but I wasn’t looking to pay for CBS, NBC and ABC separately. It was more about having to take Fox News, CNN (a better channel, but I don’t do TV news), ESPN and QVC if I wanted to get Cartoon Channel, Turner Classic and a couple of others I liked. That said, plenty of people saw this development coming, so I’m not that surprised. And it does make me glad Netflix still has DVDs, which won’t be affected.
M.A. Kropp says to write what you want, not what “they” want.
John Wayne was a racist, homophobe and sexist. Should we stop watching his movies?
#SFWAPro.
Thanks for the link!
De nada. It was a good post.
Great post. Sorry to see Mad go. It, too, was part of my teen years–hiding it from my mom as she found it offensive.
I totally agree with you about the unintended consequences of unbundling–I feel like I’m paying more and it’s harder to find what I like…and how many subscription services am I really willing to pay for? So vexing as I just recently signed up for Shudder!