Maximum PC

As you may or may not know, our parent company has been undergoing some minor restructuring. Long story, but it has a lot to do with the recession and the fact that not as many people buy magazines these days. First, let me say that Maximum PC is not going anywhere. We will continue to publish 13 issues per year, plus 4 special issues, plus of course Maximumpc.com. And we will continue to make podcasts as we find the time.

That said, here are a few changes that have happened recently that you should know about:

Maximum Tech is being folded back into Maximum PC
Our parent company took a look at the numbers and, while Maximum Tech did pretty well on the newsstand, it was decided that launching a new magazine in this economy is not the best way to go about this. So the issue of Maximum Tech that is on newsstands now is the last issue. MaximumTech.com content will be moved back to the Maximum Tech topic page on Maximum PC. We'll still keep up with the coverage we were doing on Maximum Tech, but it will be back under the Maximum PC name.

Thankfully we've been able to keep the Maximum Tech staff on as part of Maximum PC, so the amount of coverage of both Tech and PC stuff will stay the same. It'll just be under one brand instead of two.

Katherine Stevenson is now our Editor-in-Chief
As you may know, George Jones left Maximum PC back in July because he got the opportunity to start a brand-new business news magazine by and for tablets. That project, called TabTimes, is not affiliated with us or our parent company, but we wish George the best of luck. In unrelated news, Jon Phillips, who had been with us since the launch of boot in 1996, has left the company, and recently announced that he will be heading up Wired.com's Gadget Lab. We wish him the best of luck with that as well.

Katherine Stevenson is now the Editor-in-Chief of Maximum PC. Katherine has been on staff for 11 years--longer than anyone but Gordon--going from copy editor to managing editor to senior editor to deputy editor, and she's exactly the person Maximum PC needs right now. She's got the knowledge, she's got the experience, and nobody knows Maximum PC or our readers better.

Speaking of Gordon, he's been promoted to Deputy Editor, which gives him more say in the running of the magazine while still letting him do what he really loves to do (other than rant): test hardware.

Mike Brown and Markkus Rovito from Maximum Tech are now Maximum PC staffers. In Mike's case, that means welcome back!

Newsstand Changes
We've dropped the bind-in CD-ROM from newsstand issues of the magazine and dropped the cover price to $7.99 per issue. We have also stopped selling the disc subscription. People who currently have a disc subscription will continue to receive the disc.

Digital Editions!
As you might know, Maximum PC has been available on the Barnes & Noble Nook for quite some time. We are pleased to announce that an iOS Newsstand version is coming later this month, and an Amazon Kindle digital edition will launch in November. More info on those specific launches when they launch.

On behalf of your entire flight crew, let me thank you for flying Maximum PC. We know you have many choices in computer hardware coverage, and we thank you for choosing Maximum PC.

Lower price == happy Jip.

I'm eager to see how Katherine will steer this ship. Good luck to all of you!

Your post made me smile. It sounds good.

Very, very nice. As one who buys off the newsstand for hard-copy as reference material, I'm glad to see that the ship is still afloat.

Happy.

Congrats to both Katherine and Gordon. Maximum PC's in excellent hands.

There is something comforting to me about reading a magazine in my hand versus scrolling through the content on a screen. I guess it triggers happy memories from long ago. I'm glad MaxPC is not going away. I just checked and my subscription is still good through this time next year.

Regardless of the format, Maximum PC is where I do/will turn to get my tech reviews and news. Keep up the good work!

I have been coming here and reading the mag since 2004 so I am glad to hear you will be around! Good luck to all! Let's see how this new streamlined ships sails!

HOORAY! Our Home Sweet Home remains our Home Sweet Home!

The day that Gordon leaves will also be the same day trans-dimensional beings from another plane of existence will teleport out of thin air, military spec ops running around blowing everything in site and head-crabs domesticated as pets. Actually, the last part seems so fluffy, but don't be tricked, it's probably a lie.

That being said, for the sake of our world, Gordon needs to stay at MaxPC. For the good of Man Kind.

Yes. I don't want a headcrab.

you bring us a platform independent digital subscription option that I can view on any of my ePub devices, and I just might come back to reading your magazine. as it is now, it's not worth my time and money to invest in one of your "chosen platforms" to get a copy of content that I've already read on the website for free.

yeah, I donno why they'd release their pdf archives so soon now days. They used to have a 3 month lag time on posting them, but not its only a month. And a number of people complained about seeing the Dream Machine 2011 article was published on the web before they even mailed the print versions.

I really like the idea of getting my MPC fix digitally but why can't I get it on Android, or Steam? I don't own any iDevices ... I'm an MPC'er after all. Is there any way to get all past issues digitally? That way I could finally part with Boot 1 ... it's still in storage somewhere.

The parent company in this case really needs to expand the availability of the digital distribution options.

The Nook ... lol, that's bad enough but then to have Max PC on iPod hahahaha. I love the comedy but can't understand why any parent company would fail to know the audience unless they were setting you guys up for failure. That makes me more sad than anything with this announcement.

Why are so many people complaining about iDevices? You can already read MPC on your Android devices ...

Thanks for the update; really! I think a lot of us were sweating a bit but just didn't bring it up too much due to the Freudian fear that it was real. Roll with the punches, as it's really one of the best two mags out there (CPU is good, but not as wide spread on stands...so good on ya there).

My biggest gripe was picking the magazine up on the stand as it was an outlandish price, I never knew why, and it's being dealt with (Prime aged Ribeye and a six or a magazine? Hmmm). The CD's use to be awesome in the days of dial-up, but now...just drop a link and I'll DL it myself. For the price paid at the stand, might as well as had a mini 1G flash drive stuck under each cover and with better content. Yeah, the CD's have pretty much faded as "Extra Content" I'd pay for. Keep in mind though: I'm sure you have behind the scenes content going on every day people would pay for instead of CD's full of stuff we've probably all used already. Gordon's Tribbles could have been worth a bonus content charge, and I'm sure there's some uncensored rants. Just saying that there's a model out there already and to just tag along.

Hate to name drop, but I know content I personally love(d). I love me my Jon Phillips and Gordon...however, If you gals and guys are looking for more side bars, might I mention contacting Josh Norem to see if he's interested in slipping back in here and there? Life changes, so side bars might be a great hobby added to this guy's life and it's semi-old school MPC many can relate with. Think of all the stuff that's happened since his duct tapping...

Love it, and love that that the community isn't on the cutting block. As Leo Leporte also states, we're the brain of the operation. We're an extension of the magazine for the most part. If we ever go full digital, we're the best troop for the duty too. And we're free!

I always felt guilty throwing out those CDs every month, I appreciate the decision to remove them.

Good update, thank you much

I liked the CD's
since AOL went out of the cd Business, I needed a new coaster maker!
and they made great chinese cd's of death (think throwing stars, only shiny! )

Yeah a coaster that has the MaxPC logo is sooo much cooler than AOL's discs though lol