See Part 1 here, telling the tale of an engineer three generations ago.
Then Part 2 here, the current generation.
Now for the next generation engineer - it's the third and final part of my exploration of the Printed Engineering Magazine.
Over several months in 2013, I was over able to run a survey on the UIC campus with all engineering students. The subjects were a mix of electrical, mechanical, civil, and computer engineering students and computer science students. They ranged from early year students to Ph.D level.
My survey was longer and more in depth, but here are just the pertinent parts:
First and foremost, less than 1% (0.833%) of students surveyed had ever heard of most Printed Engineering Magazines (PEMs). These results are not entirely surprising. Without the paper presence, PEMs has little market presence on the campus.
Over 41% (41.66%) of those surveyed wants to see more technical learning on their engineering news websites.
Nearly 92% (91.66%) of the students visit websites to help design their work, learn, and read engineering news online. The most common starting websites mentioned are Google and Wikipedia.
Oddly enough, 42% (42.66%) of surveyed still receive paper magazine and publications for research and news/entertainment. Simply put, students are not against receiving paper journals. As stated earlier in part 2, students are always looking for an edge or secret knowledge. I think from these publications, they could just gain that edge.
It was valuable literature in a top-secret facility, then coveted tomb of knowledge for the early internet crowd. The impact of print has all but fizzled. Now, it all starts at the search engine prompt.
I think there is something to be gained from a printed magazine over the digital one. It’s the tactility, or its persistence of space. A magazine won’t suddenly have a pop up text message, like you’d see on a tablet or phone. You might flip through it as see a small column in the corner of one page, showing a small circuit or a puzzle. You will find something.
For example, take a read of element14’s TECH JOURNAL. It’s a digital magazine. Print it out at work, read it when you have time. If you learn something, or just love reading a Printed Engineering Magazine again... let me know here.
Have a story tip? Message me at: