Who’s Got Real Tech? “Wired” Vs. IEEE’s “Spectrum”
Most of the time, I get my news from the web. With as much as I trawl around online, it’s a rare occasion when I hear about something in conversation or on television before I see/read it on some site or feed. Despite this, there are times when I just want hardcopy.
I have subscriptions to both Wired and the IEEE Spectrum. Most times, I find the content of Wired to be more to my liking - there’s a balance of pop-geek culture vs tech that I generally appreciate. Since I’m not yet officially an electrical engineer, I sometimes find that the content of the Spectrum requires me to do additional research.
Until this month.
The July issue of Wired didn’t have one article that screamed “Read me!” in my face, which is rare. (To be fair, though, I’ll get around to the “end of science” articles eventually, and I couldn’t read the article on Nolan’s “Dark Knight” because I’m deathly allergic to spoilers about that movie. Thirteen days and counting, people.) On the other hand, this month’s Spectrum seemed to be tailor made for me with a balance of serious tech (robots, solid state drives, wave-power generators) and true geek culture.
Case in point: the cover article is about machinima and features the folks behind Red Vs. Blue. If you’ve been keeping up with the posts here on .51, you already know that I’m a big RvB fan. This article talks about Rooster Teeth Productions as well as the origins of machinima and is a good read.
Speaking of good reads, I’m embarrassed to write that I haven’t read one - not one! - of the “10 Great Tech Books” listed by Steven Levy, author of a number of tech books himself. “Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid” has been on my holiday to-read list for years, but I’ve yet to actually get to it. Guess it just got bumped to number one. This is worse than when I failed that geek quiz, because I read a couple of books a week, and consider myself well read in the tech department. Guess not!
The Spectrum editor himself mentions the competition between the two mags (wonder how their subscription totals match up), but this month, I’ve got say that the Spectrum has a better balance of tech vs culture content. Plus, it made me want to get one of those USB turntables.
For those of you who aren’t members of the IEEE, the links on this page will get you to these articles. Take a look then let me know what you think.
(And don’t forget to subscribe to .51 using the “Subscribe via Email” bar on the upper right hand side of this page. You’ll receive more informative posts - like this one - with geeky stuff you want to know about!)
Related posts:
- IEEE Spectrum, May 2008 Issue Available Online
- September Spectrum Is A Must-Read
- WomenInScience: IEEE Spectrum Radio Interviews Dr. Janna Levin
- From The Spectrum: Denise Gray, Engineer In Charge
- NASA’s Astronauts On Changing Climate & In “Wired”
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