Once in a while–maybe twice a year, and only since we moved to Livermore–I get a shrink-wrapped copy of Science that’s perhaps a month old, with an envelope enclosed inviting me to join AAAS for the super-low introductory price of $99. (Note that “join AAAS” is pretty much synonymous with “subscribe to Science,” and the discount seems to be honoring my nonexistent status as a scientist.)
Wonder why this has only happened since we moved to Livermore? I’m sure it has nothing to do with being in a small city of 85,000 people that includes two major labs–Lawrence Livermore and Sandia–employing more than 10,000 scientists and support staff between them. Maybe it’s purely coincidental.
Anyway, it happened again this week. After looking at the offer, I recycled it…and kept the magazine to read. (You can call Science a journal if you wish; to me, it comes off as a serious science-oriented magazine that happens to include a few peer-reviewed papers.)
I recycle the offers for two reasons:
- It offends me that I’m offered Science for $99, with a renewal price that wouldn’t be higher than $153 (and probably lower), while if my library wants to subscribe to the print edition, it will cost them $1,282. I don’t know of very many magazines with the effrontery to charge a library nearly nine times as much for a print magazine as they charge an individual, although for scholarly journals that may be typical. Or not.
- The less serious reason: I love magazines. I love books. I love some TV and movies. I love doing stuff on the computer. If I took Science with its weekly schedule and fairly meaty content, I’d have to stop taking at least half of the other magazines I read or give up on books altogether. Not gonna happen. (If anyone wonders why I don’t subscribe to The New Yorker, just reread this bullet. Also one reason I didn’t renew The Economist, although in that case going from free-for-airline miles to $100 or so made the decision easy.)
No deeper message. Just a quick note.
