Legal Bill

A trivial problem you say? Well, I've been reading Road & Track since I was twelve years old (not the same issue, wise guys). I've seen the mag go through plenty of format changes over the years. I was always able to get used to the changes and most of the time I grew to like the new lay-outs. About four month ago it changed again, and so far I just can't buy into this new format. To summarize it, Editor in Chief Larry Webster is trying to appeal more to the youth audience. The stories and columns have a lot of "pop-up" tidbits in the margins, and there are a lot of stories about what the car industry needs to do to get young people interested in cars. They even took some young people out for a day or two to expose them to motor sports in the hopes of getting them involved in the hobby. Other stories are clearly aimed at younger members of the car hobby, such as last month's story about how to "safely" work on your car on a city street. I don't mind most of that stuff, but with the new content comes a "dumbing down" of the writing. The road tests now remind me more of Car and Driver and some of the fan-boi magazines, which I always felt lacked the technical content that makes a new car test meaningful, to me anyway. In the place of well written technical descriptions we get wise cracks, jokes and weak analogies, similes and metaphors. A lot of the older writers have been let go. Peter Egan is still writing his column and the occasional travelogue. He remains the best writer in the automotive industry. If they dropped him, I'd drop the subscription in a minute. But I'm not sure Peter Egan is enough to make me keep my subscription either.

Do any of you read Road & Track? What do you think of the new format.

Matt_in_VA

Is "dumbing down" of any written words a surprise to you? Welcome to the new world order. Unlike the contractions used in McDonalds ads: "I am not loving it" or as they state it; "I'm lovin' it".

Soof

I agree with you Bill. I'm not crazy with R&Ts new look either. I guess they feel that if they don't continuously change the magazine it will lose readership.

I get 9 mags each month. They are:

R&T
Car & Driver
Motor Trend
Automobile
Autoweek (twice a month)

3 Hemmings mags:
Sports Car
Muscle Car
Classic Car.

I like Automobile the best. Now that may seem like a lot but consider that most subscriptions are around $10 a yr and that gives me plenty of reading on the cheap.
Except the Hemmings mags which are around $19 a month. However these mags are of good quality with good photos and writing.

All this reading keeps my aging mind sharp !

arsenal

Evo magazine. Yes it's $10, but you can read the articles over and over again.

ralper

Bill,

Even the New York Times magazine isn't what it used to be. I used to look forward to my Sunday mornings with it, now mostly I find it hard to read and a waste of time. Half way through an article I find myself wondering what the author is trying to say.

Dumbing down is all around us. I wonder what took Road & Track so long.

boltonblue

Is it dumbing down or just the inability to reach up to the bar?

I think they all recognize they are on the down slope competing with web articles.

ralper

No, I think it's dumbing down. I think they are now trying to reach an audience that they perceive (rightly or wrongly) to lave a shorter attention span, lesser command of language and is less deep.

NNY S2k

I stopped my Road & Track subscription 3 or 4 years ago, now I just read them in the doctors office waiting rooms.
Levi

Bugsy

I read them at the Barber shop, then fill out the change of address form to have them sent to my home.

Just kidding.


Without Egan, I'd not buy it either. He did just step down from Cycle World magazine. I think he'll be retiring soon.

Conedodger

Booo!

Egan is my hero!