I received a notice in the mail today that Dr. Dobb’s Journal will, as of the February 2009 issue, no longer be providing the hardcopy magazine. Instead, it will transition to an all-online publication. There will still be some DDJ print appearing the InformationWeek once a month. This was a big surprise to me though it seems it’s been common knowledge for a while.
DDJ was one of the few independent technical publications I subscribe to as it is, in my mind, one of the best produced. I carried the issues in my bag for weeks and read an article when I had a short break in the day. I usually read most of it, especially the regular columns.
I find the cancellation as disturbing as when I found out Software Development was no longer to be printed and was absorbed by DDJ. I viewed DDJ at that time, as I do now, to be a great publication but it wasn’t Software Design. They overlapped but definitely hit different niches.
It’s similar, too, to when I was deemed no longer eligible to receive Embedded System Programming, which apparently is now Embedded Systems Design, for free. The subscription rate isn’t horrible ($55 as of today) but, for me, it was more the principle. I’m not actively working on embedded systems anymore and really would have no reason to purchase products from the advertisers so I can see the reasoning.
The cancellation is just unfortunate on a number of levels.