Wired (1-year)

There was an article on how the earth was doomed because of the unstableness of the solar system. Apparently the fact that the day length fluctuates slightly will wreak havoc upon the economy, financial markets, programming, etc. Did anyone at Wired perhaps ponder that human ingenuity might adapt to these problems, if they were even serious problems, which they are not? Some of their other stuff like asteroids hitting the earth were more credible "problems" but it just felt like it was being blown out of proportion (no caveats like... well, there is a .0000000001% chance of this happening, etc). So I'm hard pressed to even trust their writing.

Another of their overhyped articles was the wireless computing was doomed because batery life could not keep up with the growing speed of processors. We apparently as a species need to mount an industry wide crusade to fix this problem. Wireless device users using scaled down versions of the fastest processors is apparently just not an acceptable option. Its like the writers are all tech geeks that sit inside a windowless building all day, without any clue what happens outside. If nobody had laptop computers... the world would not end. I promise.

And damn... I didn't read a single word I needed to lookup in the dictionary. Talk about not pushing the limits of the english language :( My vocabulary is not all that wonderful.

Had another stupid article about all the new booby trapped devices prisons will be using to takedown hostage-takers. As if the government is actually going to disclose any of its interesting stuff to the public. All the stuff they showed, like booby trapped phones, was very ho hum.

... This magazine just plain sucks. Too much advertising, and fluff reading articles. Its like Popular Science or any of your other pseudo techonology/science magazines. There are much worse... but why read anything that is just less worse.


Not Worth It   July 29, 2006
D. Widener (Live Oak, CA USA)
44 out of 80 found this review helpful

I was very disappointed with this magazine. The tech reviews have absolutely no depth to them. Most articles are rather pretentious and boring. In the 5 issues I have received so far only the May 2006 issue had any thing interesting. And it only had two articles which were worth it. The first was "Robbed Blind" which was about RFID chips and the second article was "DIY ways to go green".


Better Than It Was.   January 7, 2008
Steve Guardala (Land Of The Dying Gaul!!!)
33 out of 34 found this review helpful

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.


tech background not necessary to enjoy   September 27, 2002
31 out of 32 found this review helpful

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!


Yesterday's Avant Garde,Today's Electronic Inquirer   December 26, 2005
Allen Rosenberg (Desert Southwest, USA)
23 out of 40 found this review helpful

I am a low income disabled person and require copious amounts of bathroom reading material, 'Wired' is even too tedious to fill that need. Its sponsors tend to run the lengthy ads reminiscent of old picture filled National Geographics of questionable scientific value. On the other hand the articles, for example in the latest issue, 'Are Higher Gas Prices Good for Us'(paraphrase of title) offer little information and if I had time to do the research this one is particularly like a sheaf of 1970 Nixon press releases in conjunction with the announced Operation Independance. The intention at the time was to free the U.S. from dependance on foriegn oil.
Oh we of short memory, condemned to sacrifice our sons and now daughters!
Of interest may be the dumb means by which I obtained an unending subscription to this and some other almost as pointless magazines, Playstation Magazine - now X Box Magazine, the completely amoral Men's Health, Garden Club, Cooking. I simply check the highest income level on every form I fill out on the internet and everything else short of a tax form or loan application.
Typical of something recieved for nothing Wired is not a publication for which I would recommend laying out any money or time. Including bathroom time.