I began subscriptions to various magazines while in USA. One needs a stability in life & also in thoughts to subscribe say annually to a magazine or weekly etc. I got it when I was in USA!:-) It was amazing to learn about this amazing country that has progressed & has almost near-ideal atmosphere for its Citizens.
It is interesting to learn how easy it is to subscribe in USA. There are a TON of magazines on various subjects. USA is a true capitalist country where capitalism is nurtured in a very optimal way(a few dishonorable exceptions like Enron). Everything is in **excess** here. Rather excess/overkill is the name of the game!:) After 9/11 there were thousands of books on the national security or overall terrorism threat & also a bunch of patriotic/war movies. Everything keeps coming until the people demand it. On the national TV also everything depends on the rating.! So a wild live car-chase gets more footage that serious discussion on terrorism or say oil crisis & so on.
I was always amused by the GIANT Automobile Industry in the USA where largest selling vehicle is Ford F150 pick-up truck! You can read my review on USA Automobile Industry here: **https://mouthshut.com/readreview/56302-1.html**
While in USA I had subscriptions to all sorts of car magazines: **CarandDriver**, MotorTrend, RoadandTrack, Automobile, Autoweek, Autoworld, Consumer Reports. Similarly I had the usual suspect that is **Reader’s Digest** & also one of the most funny magazines **Mad**. Out of all these car magazines I would like to choose 3 & 1 from India. Readers Digest is anyway a common one. It was VERY HARD for me to leave/dispose all the issues before coming back to India. It did really hurt to see of all issues of all these magazines I collected for 4+ years go to the recycle bin of GoodWill! As a token I carried 1 copy of each with me!:)
**-CarandDriver-**
This is the quintessential one if you don’t like to subscribe to a bunch of them to get the information you need. This magazine doesn’t put any label on itself like say Enthusiastic as RoadandTrack, sophisticated as Automobile or the best etc like MotorTrend. They just claim to be the most popular one & they are right!:-)
Almost all the sections of the magazine are useful unlike’Overdrive’ from India that has 50% of the junk pages. Several useful/entertaining sections are Reader’s letters; News/Rumors; First Drives(short tests), Monthly Updates of the Long Term(1 year) Test Vehicles; Comparison Tests; Comprehensive Road Tests of the new vehicles; Upcoming Event updates; Racing Event/Related Coverage & the ultra-useful matrix of information about all the vehicles tested yet by CarandDriver.
The comparison tests are highly objective & transparent with clear presentation of the scores on different heads. They cover almost all parts of the car except say depreciation/long term durability. They do leave a few comments about it too. The road tests of the exotic cars are something of a collector status. Actually all of their issues are collector quality.
**-Consumer Reports-**
If I had to select a single most objective magazine in the entire world then this will be it. It is boring, it is very plain, it lacks any attractive/entertaining features but it makes up by giving hell lot of objective data represented with red circles which get very hard on your eyes after some time!:-) Cars, Boats, Hotels, Tourism, Cell Phones, TVs, DVDs, Digital Camera, Camcorders, Internet shopping Sites, Shopping complex.you name it & consumer report regularly reports a comparison & list of manufacturers/service providers with all their positive & negative points.
The most respectable part is that it is a non-profit organization, there is NOT a single advertisement in the magazine, they do not let anyone use any data published for advertisement. The most stunning part is that they purchase everything they test **including cars**. They do their own bumper bash test for cars, they have their own vehicle test facility, their handling test also been in the news due to their’Unacceptable’ rating to Isuzu Trooper/Acura SLX & Mitsubishi SUV.
They send the reports to their subscribers & get their experience with the vehicle/consumer products they own & come up with a statistical data. For the most than not they are completely up to the mark. Their Car-tests/Reports/Pricing sometimes been a matter of jokes as they lack passion or any personality per say but it does serve purpose to people.
It is probably the most influential & powerful magazine in entire USA that affects the consumer decision. The best part is that they are totally neutral. Somewhat limiting part is that they to the survey only within their subscribers. This magazine makes it to the list due to sheer$ it saves of the consumers.
**-Reader’s Digest-**
I don’t think anyone needs any explanation on this choice. This is one magazine full of information, knowledge & entertainment. It has become a household member of millions of homes. They cover almost every subject under the sun & include so much variety & wealth of information that can be found useful by age 8 to 80! It makes it to the list due to sheer quality & consistency of it.(They do make a little bit of tailoring for the countries they sell the magazines into).
**-Mad(Magazine)-**
As they say Humor-Laughter is the best medicine. This magazine will make you laugh & make you laugh very hard many times. The group’s satirical approach to humor is just outstanding. They have made fun of many icons & people just loved them. I specially like the one of boy bands, eminem, friends the best. This magazine is always latest, cool & a great entertainment **always**. You can count of them for a great entertainment & they make you realize what’every issue a collector issue’ means. GREAT Stuff!
**-India Today(Weekly)-**
There are many better quality magazines than this one. But this weekly is the one that delivers good stuff at a price point. They are a bit leftist in their political ideology though. Their special issue are really useful & classic collector material with hard to find snaps from the past. The articles cover a lot of topics ranging from Social Work, Politics, Sports, Music, Movies, Personalities, Event & what not. Even though at times I wish for more material per topic, can’t complain due to their weekly frequency.
Hope you liked the selection & the reasoning. Time for R-C now!:)
~Milind