Customer Reviews

Wired (1-year)

5 star:		(152)
4 star:		(58)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(56)

 

 

You don't have to have a Ph.D. in computers, math, or engineering in order to enjoy this magazine: I don't possess such credentials, and I think Wired is outrageously good. The appeal of Wired is information on cutting-edge technology, delivered in a highly visual, understandable, and often entertaining format. A subtle sense of humor pervades the magazine with features such as "Return to Sender" - a contest in which Wired readers attempt to send the weirdest possible item in the mail to the magazine's San Francisco headquarters; or "Japanese Schoolgirl Watch" - which tracks the latest trendy gadgets favored by one of the world's most trend-obsessed demographic groups. Wired endlessly scrutinizes and ponders on the intersection of technology, humans, and society in its terrific articles. The articles are always interesting, and well-written, with topics such as artificial sight research, or the shenanigans of MIT's Blackjack Team in Las Vegas (9/02 issue); parents of extremely ill children, united via the Internet in their challenges to the medical industry (9/01); or a profile of the Ibot Transporter "inventrepreneur," Dean Kamen (9/00). Wired is a beautifully presented, outstanding magazine. Try one issue - you might get hooked!

First, you don't have to be a computer geek or nerd to enjoy this magazine. I am not fond of these overused generalizations. How many of us could cross over or fit into many odd & often out of date labels? This magazine is mainly forward looking about technology, electronics, & computers. I found that I like it more now than a few years ago. The quality & style has improved. It could always have less advertising, but that is not likely.

This is a very different type of resource, which is refreshing. It is aimed at a more diverse audience, it mixes technology, politics, & aspects of what we call "pop culture." I have often thought that the latter term is oxymoronic? It varies from 170-250 pages per issue. These are its various departments. Rants & Raves: it has features & letters to the editor. Start: brief articles on electronics, science business people, architecture, art, & politics. Play: video games, cars, books, music, & entertainment media. Posts: articles on the internet, technology, & business. Found: is one page at the end of each issue subtitled as "Artifacts From The Future."

The remainder of the magazine contains 7-8 articles of varied length & quality. With more details about business, technology, philosophy, & politics. Some articles are not always very clear & seem out of place, or unfinished. This magazine still suffers a bit from a lack of tying up loose ends. But, on the whole it is worth reading for the diversity of its contents.

The best thing about Wired is that it has stayed true to its roots over all of these years. Wired has always had a forward-looking, sophisticated attitude toward technology. You can tell that every article is well-researched and no feature in the magazine is an afterthought. In every issue, you will find:

- stories about the unsung heroes who are really responsible for pushing the limits of technology
- some politically-oriented article that shows the growing interplay between technology and politics
- cool digital and electronic gadgets (that usually cost a lot of $$)
- fun stuff like Jargon watch, Wired vs. Tired, and even some of the ads (how often can you say that?)

Beyond that, I find Wired is the best place to read about things like the melding of human and computer and the progess of technology outside of the U.S. So, I find every issue interesting. It's a little less useful to me as an investor in technology stocks, but it does offer me that broader perspective on technology that helps put investable ideas into context. The clincher is the price - a small sacrifice for so much intriguing and entertaining content. I once considered discontinuing my subscription, but realized that it's so different from everything else I read and just one decent article an issue makes it worthwhile. Very glad I kept it. So, if you've never read Wired, I would give it definitely give it a try.

I've subscribed to Wired Magazine for several years, though I confess that that I don't read every issue from cover to cover. This is a magazine best suited to Silicon Valley technophiles. There are a lot of ads for the latest gadgets, and the short articles about these new technologies appeal to more avid gadget collectors than me.

So why have I not cancelled my subscription? I keep reading Wired because of the feature articles. They are well researched, thoughtful, and clever; they often cover an aspect of the business or culture of technology that other magazines miss. I can still remember some of the best articles -- an article about why FedEx is really a high tech company, an article about how fiber optic cable is laid and what that means for the economics of broadband, an article about how the European Commission's Competition Bureau is shaping the global technology business through its regulatory authority.

If you are a technophile, you s!hould subscribe if you don't already. But even if you're not, you should consider it if you work in the tech sector or have an interest in how technology affects all of our lives.

I used to love Wired, and read every issue cover-to-cover. Unfortunately, it's now just a shadow of its former self. Since being sold to Conde Nast publications (or even before?), Wired has been stripped of its meat and transformed into even more of an ad-laden pseudo-catalog than it once was. The irony of the title has become even more obvious as online forums and publications have matured while Wired's writing has lost its urgency and its ad/content ratio has degraded. Unless you're looking for a catalog of geek toys to flip through, your money is better spent elsewhere.

I have been a consequent Wired reader since 1994. Subscribing on and off, depending on the quality of the content (the design has almost always being impeccable), I find Wired has been going through one of its best times in the course of the past year or so. Since they've always been ahead of the curve, presenting the future 'now' by means of a thoughtful combination of to-the-point introductions to a topic or piece of gear with lengthy interviews or articles dealing with the hottest topics in technology and our lives at large in the years and decades to come, it could be argued that the world -at the fast pace it is going- is providing them with an overabundance of content ideas. But as a publication, you could very well, take a very interesting topic and put together a lame writing around it, so there is great merit in what the Wired team is doing.

As an example, let me share the general layout of November 2003's issue:
-Big focus on Open Source (remember Linux and its creator, Linus Torvalds?), and how it's beginning to permeate all areas, beyond software.
-A feature on the latest on studies about sleep and wake-up drugs.
-Quite a few interesting articles on copyright infringement and what a famous media powerhouse is doing, by going in the oposite direction, becoming a P2P freedom fighter.
-The future of batteries and the electrical grid.
-Politics and how they are getting deeply affected by... blogs!
-The big bang... and why it never stopped.

And the interesting topics go on and on, written by some amazing contributors, ranging from Wired's long standing collaborators, such as Bruce Sterling, or some recently incorporated "talent", such as technology columnist Dan Gillmor or Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig.

Some of you might be wondering: what's the point in subscribing to a magazine like Wired, when I can get their content online a few weeks after the magazine is out. First of all, the subscription is SO unexpensive ($1/issue) that you shouldn't be questioning it. And second, and most important, this is a magazine (like I mentioned before) that you just don't like for its content (which is indeed available online shortly after publication), but also for its splendid layout and access to advertising for last minute products, the type that a typical Wired reader would love to learn about before they become a part of the mainstream. So get going and subscribe to Wired, so you can read about the future before it arrives!

I bought my first copy of Wired from the newsstand in 1997 and I have been a subscriber ever since. Not every issue is great and the change in style over the last few years has been up and down. Still, the vast majority of the time I find myself devoting 2-3 hours after its arrival in the mail to reading it from cover to cover. The articles cover every aspect of technology and society. Features on the Microsoft trial, the Open Source movement, and biotech are what anyone would expect in a tech magazine. What sets Wired apart are stories on roller coasters, ship bone yards and autism. When I was stationed in Korea for a year it was not practical for me to transfer all my magazine subscriptions. Of the two I transferred, Wired was at the top of the list. If I could only subscribe to one magazine, it would be Wired.

I value my time, and, probably like you, get news and information from multiple sources (internet, magazines, newspapers, and TV being the principle venues). As far as magazines go, Wired is my favorite by far; I still look forward to getting it after 5 years, and on the off chance it doesn't arrive in the mail on time, I slap around my mailbox in dissapointment.

It's impossible to not be intrigued by whatever cutting-edge technology they're following, the stories of the pioneers who are developing it, and the social implications of their deployment.

But Wired is about much more than new and interesting technology, for me, it's about perspective. Wired always takes an adventurous and unorthodox view on todays social, scientific, and political topography. But most refreshingly, they observe the world optimistically.

How rare is that!

I'm abundantly aware of the misery of this planet, and in case I momentarily forget, I can cycle through any of the 10 news channels I have on TV for a stinging dose of painful reality. Wired doesn't keep you immune to the challenges of our day, but rather than "objectively" explore them, they help me view the news through a lens of productive possibility.

Valuable indeed.

In addition, every issue contains a "radar update of cool"; cool music, movies, books...cool gadgets for home and lifestyle; Wired is - aside from being my favorite magazine - also, in my humble opinion, the coolest.

Enjoy,

Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California

No doubt, Wired is one of the best tech magazines in print, but the subscription for Wired for Amazon is apparently managed by a company called Synapse. I subscribed for a year's subscription in July and my first issue did NOT turn up even by mid November. I had to call and cancel my subscription. I now subscribe directly.

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)!

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.

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.

Let me share a few of the stories from the current issue to show you the kind of goodies you get in each issue:

* 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

* The Whole Earth, Catalogued - How Google Maps is changing the way we see the world

* 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

* 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.

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.)

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!

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...)!