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We ought to have sympathy for Wired; the monthly magazine format doesn't lend itself to the quick, first-on-the-scene style of journalism for which the tech audience hungers. Still, when we've seen half the content of the latest issue before we cracked it open, it leaves us asking, what's the point of reading Wired?

We don't want to accuse Wired of anything, we're just worried for it. In the September 2006 issue, "The Rebirth of Music," we found Beck (last album: 2005) on the cover and a dozen recycled stories inside:

  • "Frazzing," Jargon watch, pg. 50: seen on ABC News's blog in January
  • "Phantom ring," Jargon watch, pg. 50: seen in the New York Times, May
  • Nerdcore rap, pg. 62: seen in Wired Magazine, June 2005
  • LED graffiti throwies, pg. 66: seen in MAKE Magazine, May
  • Japanese paper robots, pg. 70: seen every day on Boing Boing since, like, 2004
  • Apple MacBook, pg. 84 (we couldn't believe this one): seen in Macworld, May
  • Luxurious Flowing Hair Club for Scientists, pg. 92: seen in the Annals of Improbable Research, 2001-2002
  • Splogs, pg. 104: seen in Wired News, October 2005
  • Low-texture computer graphics, pp. 133-140: seen in every magazine, CD-ROM, and made-for-reel CGI short around 1999
  • Feature: Mix CDs, pg. 172: seen...geez, where...since the beginning of Pitchfork, unless you count mix tapes, in which case seen before High Fidelity came out
  • Barenaked Ladies, pg. 178: career last seen in 2000, with an alleged appearance in 2003
  • The Pitchfork Effect, pg. 184: seen in the Washington Post, April

Wired Magazine 14.09 [Wired.com]