This weekend I checked Newsweek’s website a few times, looking for the latest issue to be published. I had been interviewed on background for a big piece on Facebook, which I assumed would be the cover story. Late Saturday, there was still no sign of the article, so I googled to find out the publication schedule for the magazine, and found, in a click or two, that new issues hit newstands on Mondays.
Of course, that didn’t stop me from looking again online on Sunday, and I was rewarded with the opportunity to find and read the cover story a day before anyone could get it on their local newstand.
Nonetheless, I decided to also pick up a hard copy this morning, so I altered my route into work by a few blocks and stopped at Mac’s Smoke Shop in downtown Palo Alto. To my surprise, they still had last week’s issue on display. I asked if they had the new issue in the back, and the manager said, “no” and that they have been having trouble lately with the distributor. Since Mac’s is half a block from Facebook headquarters, I’ll bet they’ll be a few more missed purchases this morning! Not a great moment for traditional print media.
