Popular Science Magazine

I've been reading Popular Science off and on since I was eight and my brother had a subscription. The What's New magazine offers you insights into the forthcoming advances in science, medicine, electronics and other fields. It presents them in a concise, easy to read format.

Oddly though, the real joy of this magazine comes in looking at back issues. Let's face it, predictions of the future last in your mind about as long as it takes you to turn the page. If, twenty years ago someone told you music would be contained on little silver discs read by a laser, you'd have probably laughed. An article about the creation of a world wide connection of computers probably would have seemed like something only the government would ever care about in the days of the Commodore 64. Perhaps sensing this, Popular Science has an article that features past articles going back 125 years indicating the then "new" advances in technology. It's my favorite article in this always fascinating magazine.

The only problem with the magazine is that it looks strangely out of date when compared to newer magazines. It's filled with ads that look like they come out of a regional trade journal and the pages look like they were done on a low tech publishing program. Seems strange that a magazine about the future would look like something from 10 years ago. Still, it's a minor complaint when the magazine is this interesting.