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PEOPLE | HEART | CULTURE | BUSINESS |
"Wired has not made 'heroes' out of 'geeks'; it has presented a new voice and is recognizing a lifestyle and culture that is transnational, highly generational, more like rock music than Catholicism." - Nicholas Negroponte in Computer World(Jan.95)
When asked about competition, John Battelle, Wired's Executive Managing Editor, stated:
"In advertising, we have competition. I don't think that we have editorial competition yet. I don't know if we could. It would cost so much money for a Time Warner or anyone to.... We lock up the talent. The people who know how to write about this stuff are writing for us and have a lot of loyalty to us. To get them all to a new magazine... I have spent six months looking for the right person to replace me as managing editor. It is very hard to find someone that understands what we are doing. To think that someone at Time Warner who has never made a Wired, could understand what it takes to make one, and then hire the right people to make it. ....I don't think so."While Wired is not in immediate danger of being cloned, it has gain some competition in many of the niche areas that it covers. In the area of the Internet, which Wired covers in its "Net Surf" section, several magazines have recently appeared: The Net, Internet World, Online Access, and NetGuide are just a few examples. Also, as Wired is often catagorized as a computer lifestyle magazine, it is competing with a new publication from Ziff-Davis called ComputerLife.
Across the ocean, Wave magazine in Holland is Dutch cross between Wired and Mondo. In fact, Wave's masthead names R.U. Sirius as its Godfather. While Wave has much of Mondo's subculture slant on sex and drugs, it has featured many Wired articles translated into Dutch. Although Wave is not really a direct competitor to Wired's tarket market, it does raise some questions about Wired's global expansion strategy.
Other serious direct competition is coming from another San Francisco based magazine called The Red Herring, which specializes in the area of technology and business. With its subtitle, "Technology Strategy, Financial, & Investment", The Red Herring is poised to lure many of Wired's prized business-elite types away. While The Red Herring's lack of design would put most of Wired's readers to sleep, the in-depth financial and business analysis may be sufficient compensation for executives more concerned with numbers than the presentation.
Even more threatening is the growing coverage of the "digital revolution" domain in the mainstream business press, including Fortune, Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal. Has Wired's dramatic success in covering its niche, pushed that niche into the mainstream? Can Wired compete against the established press?
"Wired's in-your-face approach to technology has taken coverage of the computer industry out of the realm of the geek and on to the cutting-edge of cultural discourse." - The Financial Times
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PEOPLE | HEART | CULTURE | BUSINESS |