With the Internet explosion, one field of information providers has really suffered, print magazines. This is particularly apparent in Mac print magazines. Currently, we have MacWorld, MacAddict, MacHome, MacTech, and Inside Mac Games. Which magazine would be right for you? Can this type of communication survive when we have infinite wisdom at our fingertips? What will they need to do to ensure a secure future for their employees?

Well, if you aren't sure what each of these magazines focuses on, here are some quick synopsis. MacWorld is the older Mac magazine around. with this age comes maturity. They have excellent writers, informative reviews, and each issue contains something very useful. However, it may be a little too geeky for the beginner, even though they have tried to squeeze out some of the geekiness. [MacWorld Homepage]

MacAddict is the new comer. They have a definite attitude. None of these magazines put as much humor into their magazines as MacAddict. But with this comes a sacrifice. They seem to have less relevant information than MacWorld, and too much of their space is devoted to silliness, plain and simple. Nevertheless, their monthly CD is definitely the best.[MacAddict Homepage]

MacHome is aimed towards parents, beginners, and children. The tech head will not enjoy this magazine as much as MacWorld, but will find it has more information than MacAddict. Most of their content is very basic, but is very well laid out. This is exactly what their target audience needs. They use non-technical words, and explain everything in plain English. [MacHome Homepage]

MacTech is the programmer's magazine. It has code and highly technical lingo from cover to cover. The beginner will definitely get lost while reading this magazine, while a more advanced user will love how in depth it gets. They don't do many reviews, or news articles, but that's because they put in so much code. If you are a programmer, you need this magazine (and it's awesome CD). [MacTech Homepage]

Inside Mac Games is the premiere gaming magazine for the Macintosh. Reviews, news, previews, and much more on the field of games. Their CD is always packed with stuff gamers love, just like the magazine. Always a ton of information for the hardcore Mac gamer. [Inside Mac Games Homepage]

But can these magazines survive in their current form? Out of these five, I think only a few will be in it for the long run. MacWorld has survived everything, and will continue to bring Mac folk great news and reviews. In fact, My last issue contained information from the MacWorld Expo, which was only a week before! I have never seen such a quick turnaround of information in a monthly magazine. If they keep that up, they will surely continue their reign.

Another one is MacHome. Because their target audience is so very different from the others magazines, they will continue to flourish. With the advent of the iMac, thousands of new users are flocking to the Macintosh platform. Many of these people have not used computers or the Internet before, so MacHome is perfect for them. These are also the people who don't need the latest news, reviews, or whatever, they need to wade in the pool before diving in.

I feel that the other three will be engulfed by the internet. MacAddict has a large reader base, but it's quickly diminishing form what I heard. Many many people are dropping it in favor of the net. One of the main reasons people are staying with it is for the CD. However, as broadband invades more and more households, their CD will not be needed either. Inside Mac Games will probably continue the longest of the three, but again, the internet will cut them down. MacTech may have the best chance of surviving of these three, but it just can't hold up. Their website can spew out much more code, much faster than the magazine. And while it's always nice to be able to refer to a piece of paper when looking for a snippet, it's much faster to use a search engine.

So, what will become of these companies. MacAddict, will die, even with it's website. They just do not know how to make a good website. Hard navigation, slow loading, and hundreds of ads make for a place I do not want to see. I haven't been there in months, and don't plan on going unless they have something very big, and exclusive to them. The other two will flourish on the net. Both IMG and MacTech have great websites, and are in fields that are steadily growing, but don't have too many sites to hold everybody. I'm betting they can evolve with the times.

Of course, all these changes aren't here yet, but you can see them coming. The internet is invading every aspect of our lives, and pushing conventional media to the curb. This mass of human brain power is quite the spectacle if you sit back, and imagine how much information is out there. Print, TV, and radio communications will have to learn to adapt.