Macworld, a monthly technology magazine devoted to Apple Inc products, laid off much of its staff on Wednesday and will stop publishing a print edition.
The magazine will become a digital-only publication, according to an announcement from Macworld’s parent company, IDG.
The news came a day after Apple introduced a smartwatch and two iPhones with larger screens.
An IDG spokeswoman, Susanna Hinds, said the timing of the announcement was unrelated to the debut of Apple’s products. She declined to say how many people were laid off.
The changing economics of print publishing in an increasingly digital world has forced many magazines to rethink their business models. Several niche titles, including the music titles Spin and Paste and the travel title Budget Travel, have scuttled their print editions. Other publications, like Advertising Age and New York magazine, have reduced their print schedules.
Macworld published its first issue on April 1, 1984, making its debut the same day as the Apple Macintosh personal computer.
Though the US print edition is being discontinued, Hinds said print editions would continue to be published in several markets overseas.
According to IDG’s corporate Web site, the magazine has a circulation of 135,000 in the US.
While technology enthusiasts have plenty of other publications to lean on for coverage of Apple, Andrew Lih, an associate journalism professor at American University, said that this still was a crucial moment for a publication that began when Apple assumed a very different place in our culture.
“I remember getting the first issue way back when it was rogue, when Macs were trying to compete with IBM PCs and trying to get respect,” he said. “You had to wait for that monthly thing to land on your doorstep.”
However, Lih said that Macworld had failed to keep up with other sources of technology news like Cnet and Twit.tv.
“The general magazine that comes out once a month that tries to cover everything Mac-related in one shot is an old model at this point,” Lih said.
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