All businesses have been affected by the Internet and modern technology but none more so than the trade press. For over 100 years thousands of weekly and monthly trade journals were printed to keep people in each field up to date with the latest news, views and gossip in their field. Some trade papers such as The Wall Street Journal went national and attracted an audience outside their trade. But in most fields, magazines like Linns kept its readers abreast with arcane field specific news.
The Internet has changed all that and trade publications have been dying at a rapid rate. Fifteen years ago, philately had over ten weekly and monthly stamp publications. Until yesterday it had three, when it was announced that Amos Press the publisher of Linns and the Scott Monthly Journal (SMJ) would be combining the two magazines which essentially means the end of the Scott Monthly Journal. The Internet has opened up a new world to us all. Information once virtually impossible to obtain is now at everyone’s fingertips. But it has meant the loss of many old friends. RIP SMJ.