Netflix-like magazines?

Are you familiar with Netflix? The movie rental program where, for a monthly fee, you can rent and return as many movies as you please. It's all done through the mail, no more trips to the movie rental store and no more late fees. When you're finished with a movie you simply mail it back, then Netflix sends you the next one on your "wishlist".

Well, evidentially the concept has caught on with magazines as well. Maghound is a new service from the publishers of Time, People and Sports Illustrated where, yep - you guessed it, you can receive your monthly magazines, read them, then send them back for another title(s). Now I think I've heard it all. I don't know about you, but most magazines that enter my household are not in any condition to be read by another person after my family is done with it. By the time everyone has ear-marked just about every page at one time or another, at least three beverages have sweat probably more than their weight in content all over the cover after using the magazine for a coaster, and my cat is done using it as her latest scratching post - trust me, these magazines are in NO shape for readers outside of my home!

Now granted, if you knew you were going to be returning the magazine for someone else's reading enjoyment, perhaps you would be more careful than the average household and be sure to keep it in mint condition. But honestly, how many of us read the magazine from cover to cover within a timely manner of receiving it? I mean, I'm sure there are magazines around my house that are well past their prime and I can guarantee you that I have yet to read the entire thing.

So, is this what magazines have come to? Share, share alike? I just don't think so. I think it's a noble idea, it has definitely worked for the movie industry, however I don't believe that we have the same urgency to read a magazine and return it as we do to watch a movie and return it for the next one.

Click here if you're interested on the full story on Maghound.