PC Magazine hit newsstands in 1982, a year after the very first IBM PC, and "literally invented the idea of comparative hardware and software reviews," says PaidContent. "Pretty much any Web site that runs a technology benchmark has PC Magazine to thank," says CNet's gadget blog Crave. In the fatter days of the PC boom, PC Mag used to print editions in excess of 500 pages, recalls Switched. ""I fondly remember going back and forth comparing the multi-page ads from all the direct vendors trying to figure out which PC I was going to buy," writes Michael Miller, a former editor of the magazine, in a fond farewell at Forward Thinking. But these days, Silicon Alley Insider points out, gadget and PC shoppers stay online. And Ziff-Davis, the long-struggling publisher, recently went through bankruptcy, notes Valleywag. So now Ziff says that the January edition 2009 will be the final print issue; it'll be digital-only after that.

"Print magazines about computing are hitting a wall," sums up Alice Hill's RealTechNews. The magazine's digital operation thrives already; Ziff CEO Jason Young told PaidContent digital is about 70 percent of revenues for the PCMag brand now, which overall is profitable. And digital doesn't mean website-only. PC Magazine Digital Edition has been available since 2002, notes editor in chief Lance Ulanoff in a PCmag.com blog. It's a simulated print mag where you can "turn" the pages. ReadWriteWeb is among those who think feel these digital magazine are at best bridges to a pure online experience.
So now will even magazines like Time will go online-only? asks Signal to Noise. "Almost certainly not. But the trade journals and vertical publications with a small circulation may be forced into an online-only format." At Technologizer, former editor of rival print mag PC World Harry McCracken writes, "I know that it's awfully hard to straddle two very different media and do justice to both of them. I suspect that PC Mag editor Lance Ulanoff and his staff are feeling liberated in some ways today--without print deadlines to worry about, they'll have some opportunities to do some cool new stuff on their site."