Cheap Wired [2-year subscription] (Magazine) Price

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Customer Reviews of Wired [2-year subscription]

Fired
Whatever Wired may once have been, it no longer is. I've been a sporadic reader for years, but I think that just ended with this month's issue. You know, the one with Martha on the cover. Yes, that Martha. <
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>It may still be the journal of the ADD generation - only about two pieces lasted longer than a two-page spread. The larger part of the magazine looks like flocks of featurelets, up to a half-dozen per page, flying in close formation. The vaguely-connected fragments include sound-bites, factoids, and how-to blurbs for people not real strong on following directions. <
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>One feature distinguished this month's issue from any other magazine I've ever seen: complete unification of content and advertising. There's no clue which is which in the visual style, since the magazine is mostly about selling some ill-defined technological "coolness" anyway. Perhaps as a result, descriptive ads and product-placed articles have grown almost completely together. More than once, I honestly couldn't tell the difference. <
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>Bye-bye, Wired. The next generation of magazines, Seed included, are now doing what you used to do, but maybe better. <
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>-- wiredweird, no relation

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Be in the Know
I'm a 30-something female who is NOT a techie geek. However, I've been a subscriber to Wired magazine for several years now, and I love it (and so does my husband)! <
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>Obviously, there are some articles I don't relate to at ALL (nor do I understand them). However, the majority of articles are engaging and downright fascinating. For example, the most current issue (Jul. 2007) features a cover story of Transformers (the movie). But what I DIDN'T realize (until I read this issue) is that many fans were concerned about the choice for director ("Please God, don't let Michael Bay screw this up.") because many children of the 80's (of which I am one) saw Optimus Prime as a father figure, especially for the latch key kids. <
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>These fans were concerned that Bay, known for his blow-em-up action flicks, would disregard the emotional component of Transformers--which is (apparently) important to many. <
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>Let me share a few of the stories from the current issue to show you the kind of goodies you get in each issue: <
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>* Sail of the Century - Venture capitalist Tom Perkins wanted a new boat, so he built the biggest, riskiest, most technologically advanced sailing machine on the planet <
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>* The Whole Earth, Catalogued - How Google Maps is changing the way we see the world <
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>* The Human Advantage - Computers are great at crunching numbers. But when it comes to tasks like translating languages or identifying beauty, the cortex still beats the CPU <
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>* The Trials of Hans Reiser - A brilliant but irascible coder. A missing wife. Incriminating blood. And a host of questions. How a Linux geek became a murder suspect. <
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>Of course, there's also must-have gears and gadget profiles as well as reviews. Rants from readers are featured, as well as thought-provoking essays. (This month's essay? Why the U.S. needs a high-speed rail system.) <
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>Perhaps my favorite monthly feature, though, is Artifacts from the Future. These faux "ads" from the future are clever--and slick as spit. You'd never know they were jokes at first glance! <
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>So if you're interested in trends involving computers, religion/spirituality, art, music, transportation, the environment, gaming, pop culture, medicine, journalism, sports, psychology and more...you'll probably enjoy Wired. The interviews are utterly intriguing (this month, Wired did a mini-interview with Nicole Lapin, one of the youngest anchors in CNN's history), and the graphics are smart and appealing. Even the ads are (usually) fresh and compelling (well, when they're not aimed at twenty-something corporate males...)!

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Ordering...
WARNING: You may not get the full subscription you pay for!! Amazon's subscription business partner sometimes underpays the publication! You are charged the full price (actually, more) and yet may receive only part of the subscription! <
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>Amazon's "customer service" neglects to help on this issue! <
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>Consider ordering directly from the publisher.