John Keller
Editor in Chief
This is perhaps the last time you’ll see my smiling face on the cover of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine.
No, it’s not that. I’ve been part of this magazine longer than any other human being–living or dead–and that’s not about to change. What is about to change, however, is the print edition of Military & Aerospace Electronics.
The next issue of Military & Aerospace Electronics, January 2009, begins our 20th year in publication, and we’re celebrating with a streamlined new design with dramatic cover designs and a standard 8-by-10 1/2-inch magazine format that’s easy to grab while you’re on the go. It fits easily into a briefcase, purse, or even folded into a jacket pocket.
Next month’s issue will offer the incisive information you’ve come to expect from Military & Aerospace Electronics–our applications-based special report feature, the technology-based technology focus feature, the Product Applications design-in case studies report, as well as news and in-brief sections. You’ll even be able to enjoy my monthly trends column, but it will be inside, near the front of the magazine.
A new and exciting department of the Military & Aerospace Electronics print magazine is our Best of the Web section, which gives readers a taste of what they may be missing on the Military & Aerospace Electronics online Web site, such as breaking news, contract announcements, frequent new products, entertaining and thought-provoking blogs, video, and our popular Command Post online community.
If you like what you see in the Best of the Web section, we know you’ll want to go online and see whatever else you’ve been missing at the Military & Aerospace Electronics Web site at www.milaero.com.
Periodically appearing sections in the print edition of Military & Aerospace Electronics will include our Product Intelligence feature and company listing, the Electro-Optics Watch digest of optical and electro-optic technologies and applications, and our market trends department called Finish Line.
It’s true that change is a part of life, but you’re probably wondering, why mess with a good thing? Military & Aerospace Electronics has been a big part of our industry over the past two decades, with its distinctive tabloid size and important news stories right on the front cover.
The reason is, we’re changing with the times. When we launched Military & Aerospace Electronics in January 1990 from a second-floor suite of small offices in Alexandria, Va., the Internet had yet to give us a second thought, much less play a central role in our lives.
At that time, 20 years ago, magazines and newsletters were how people in the military and aerospace electronics industry got most of their information, so we needed to be careful how we crafted the content of Military & Aerospace Electronics to present the right mix of news, feature-length analysis, new products, market trends, contract awards, and even industry personnel moves.
It’s different today–way different. Now we get most of our late-breaking news from the Internet. New products burst on the scene within days, if not hours. We get a lot of our analysis and perspective from online blogs and columns. We want information about rapidly unfolding events when we want it, not on a monthly magazine publishing schedule.
The Internet gives us that immediacy. Now that we’re used to it, few of us could imagine doing business in a world without the Internet.
Still, there’s plenty that a print magazine does better than the Internet. Take in-depth application and technology features like our Special Report and Technology Focus departments, for example. Who wants to read a 3,000-word feature on a scrolling computer screen? Not me, and I’ll bet not you, either.
Instead, people best absorb this kind of content away from blinking, beeping computer screens, when they have time to think and reflect. Summer Saturdays in the hammock are some of these times, as are that time we spend on airplanes, at the airport, or commuting to work on the train or bus. Print magazines have taken a lot of bashing of late, but you can’t argue with the fact that a magazine is portable, wireless, power-efficient, and has an intuitive graphical user interface.
For content like features, design-in technology case studies, and the month-in-review columns and analyses, you just can’t beat a print magazine, and that’s where the newly designed Military & Aerospace Electronics will shine.
Some folks believe that print magazines are dead. On the contrary, we say that print magazines are on the verge of a rebirth for the Internet age, and you can expect Military & Aerospace Electronics to stay on the leading edge.
Please celebrate with us next month as we begin our 20th year with the new design of Military & Aerospace Electronics.
