Farewell To Business 2.0

I have to say that I am genuinely sad to read details about the final issue of Business 2.0, which I will unequivocally place in the top 5 of my favorite magazines.

Clearly, the last 5 years have been tough ones for the print industry. With the explosion of the web, ad dollars have been in competition, and ultimately billions have moved from traditional media to online, making the likes of Google rich. Newspapers have shed staff around the country as they struggle to remain solvent, and I have heard rumblings for months that Business 2.0 was struggling for survival.

In fact, another of my favorite magazines, Fast Company, only remained alive because Joe Mansueto, the founder of Morningstar, purchased both Inc Magazine and Fast Company and made the pledge not to shutter the latter, despite a common consensus that most any other buyer would do so.

Regardless of how the web has changed the way we consume media, nothing will replace my love of lounging around in a pocket of free time, flipping through my favorite magazines from cover to cover; Business 2.0 was one of the very few to have reached this status, along with Wired, Inc. and The Economist (given sufficient time!).

So it is with sad irony that the very same technology and online companies championed by the likes of Business 2.0 (along with the likes of Red Herring and Industry Standard, also long since deceased) — have led to the move of ad dollars online and the demise of these very publications.

Goodbye, Business 2.0 – I, for one, will miss you.