Time Kills Off Business 2.0
I discovered the magazine Business 2.0 several years ago, probably during the height of the original dot.com surge. Its coverage of cutting edge technology news was what attracted me to the periodical, but I must admit that I wasn’t a subscriber.
No Bids Accepted For Business 2.0
Yesterday, I learned that Business 2.0 is being killed off by Time, Inc., its current owner. A report by The New York Times indicates that the media giant has decided against selling the magazine just six years after purchasing Business 2.0 for $68 million. Apparently, Time has rejected offers for the magazine deciding it was better to lose 623,000 subscribers or possibly give them the option to switch to Fortune, another Time-owned magazine.
Easy Reading Business Writing
One of the hallmarks of Business 2.0 (available to read online) has been its easy to read articles. Most recently I enjoyed its Where the Web 2.0 Stars Were Born, a look at the garages, dorm rooms, and apartments where some of the current heavyweights got their start (e.g., Facebook, craigslist, Apple, etc.) Hopefully, some of the Business 2.0 style will rub off on Fortune.

That’s too bad. I always flipped through this magazine when I would head out to pick up a new book.
Hopefully the end of Business 2.0 doesn’t spell the end of Web 2.0
-Paul
Well, Paul, if Business 2.0 is signaling the end of Web 2.0 we don’t have anything to worry about — Web 3.0 is probably right around the corner. Or, Web 2.1.2 or some other nonsense!
I can’t believe they’re killing this off. This was one of my favorite publications, I too enjoyed the where Web 2.0 stars were born article.
Now, I don’t know much about the magazine industry, but 623,000 subscribers sounds like a lot to me. Sure they might go to fortune magazine, but there are also a bunch of other publications that have potential too…
David, that is a lot of subscribers. Since Time already has Fortune, they probably will roll subscriptions to Business 2.0 over to Fortune or extend Fortune subscriptions for people who subscribe to both.
Let’s see if Time will include a “Business 2.0″ section in the magazine or not.