Omni Magazine To Reboot 95
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Adi Robertson reports in The Verge that classic science fiction magazine Omni, created in 1978 by Penthouse mogul Bob Guccione and partner Kathy Keeton, is coming back — and with it, questions about how our vision of science and science fiction has changed since Omni closed up shop in 1996. 'There's a heavy dose of nostalgia in the proceedings, and it's not just about bringing back an old name,' writes Robertson. 'Longtime editor Ben Bova has described Omni as "a magazine about the future," but since his time as editor, our vision of the future has been tarnished — or, at the very least, we've started looking at the predictions of the past with rose-tinted glasses.' Omni's resurrection comes courtesy of Jeremy Frommer, a collector and businessman who acquired Guccione's archives earlier this year. Like the original magazine, now available at the internet archive, the new Omni will publish a mixture of new fiction and nonfiction publishing the old illustrations that helped define Omni alongside the stories. Longtime science writer Claire Evans will edit the new online project described as an 'Omni reboot' but plans to jettison one of the magazine's most dated elements — a fondness for extraterrestrials and conspiracy theories. 'Omni always had a distressing new agey tinge to it,' says Bruce Sterling. 'There was a lot of "aircraft of the pharaohs'"rubbish going on, which I didn't have very much tolerance for.'"
I can't imagine bringing out a "new" magazine.... (Score:5, Insightful)
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(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail.
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WHO NEEDS AN OMNI WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES? (Score:2)
Now?
We have pervasive police-state surveillance, US Government cocaine flights from central America and "Conspiracy Realities" exposed by Snowden, Assange, Michael Hastings and Andrew Warren, among others.
The dark future of Stanislaw Lem's "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub" [wikipedia.org] is here.
LOAD 24 TONS? (Score:2)
And what [news.co.cr] do you get?
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"we should all curl up in a fetal position next to you, suck our thumbs and cry and wait to die."
Not my position.
I'm just suggesting that it is GOOD that a new OMNI doesn't want to have conspiracy theory articles.
They'd never be able to keep up with actual facts.
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Amen to that brother...amen to that!!
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Funny you mention Wired. I was just talking about OMNI the other day and the closest example I could come up with was Wired. The same sort of starry-eyed promotions about technologies 'only 5 years away' and endless prognostications about the glorious or terrifying future.
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Wired is still around? Really, not being snotty, I thought they were long gone.
I'll Subscribe (Score:1)
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Just for the nostalgia effect.
Me too. When I was a kid, I loved Omni. It had a great mix of real science, science fiction, and wild conjecture. There was usually a page or two of puzzles and brainteasers, or a "Super-Mensa IQ Test". I don't miss the UFO crap, which was a waste of paper and ink, so I am glad that part won't be coming back.
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OMNI's golden years were the early 1980s (Score:3)
OMNI's golden years were the early 1980s. There was so much of what we now call "junk" science that made the magazine so compelling. It took Popular Science and stretched it to the extreme edge of believability which is a big part of what made it so interesting and entertaining.
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I see you're new to the Internet
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Coincidence? (Score:2)
First Art Bell gets back in circulation and then so does Omni. Clearly the end times are upon us.
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Life looks pretty nice too if you drug yourself to the gills and listen to "I'm glad I'm a Beta" while you sleep. Should we all lose our human dignity for the sake of having a nice day?
Omni shifted from science to "scientism" (Score:4, Interesting)
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Yeah, my mom subscribed me to it back in the 80s. Used to love that magazine.
Now, I wish they'd reboot a Mondo2000-esque magazine, focusing on issues in tech, like privacy, data sharing, etc. With lots of weirdos in colorful Kai's Power Tools backgrounds.
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Now you're talking! I miss all of the creativity that came out of "The Well" back then. Back when you had a "zine" that helped you choose what to wear, what brain enhancing drugs to take, where to stand on social issues, and how subvert the phone company. All in one randomly produced at various times throughout the year publication.
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Nooooootropic drugs! SMART BARS! CYBERSEX!
lolol.. i miss those days, though.
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That is when i dropped my subscription. I had one from the first day, until they ruined it.
Sort of like when BYTE went south and became 'yet another PC review magazine'.. Was such a loss to the communities that built them.
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I had exactly the same experience!
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Damn I miss National Lampoon.
Owned by a porn company now IIRC. Only making terrible movies, magazine is dead and gone. Web site is basically empty.
Screw Omni, bring back 'pooners. At least put up an archive and make a 'Politeness Man' movie.
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You made my year. Seriously. Hadn't searched in a while. Don't know how I missed it.
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Same here. I recall reading an article about the discovery of DHT and its effect on male pattern baldness and how it would be easy to address with that information. "Phew," I said, "I've got 25 years for them to work that out!".
Today I buy spray-on sunscreen... gee, thanks Omni!
Hard to blame them (Score:2, Funny)
plans to jettison one of the magazine's most dated elements - a fondness for extraterrestrials and conspiracy theories.
They're just doing what their new insect overlords command them to.
Aircraft of pharaoh (Score:1)
The Rule (Score:1)
No smiling allowed in science. No joy. No room for the human soul. Just rows and columns of numbers. And mobile phones. Lots of mobile phones.
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go away, unfunny troll.
Or I shall taunt you a second time.
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That's because you're a cat. Dogs wag and bark and smile.
And chew on mobile phones.
Unchained (Score:1)
> "Omni always had a distressing new agey tinge to it"
Created by a guy in the 1970s who had a half-unbuttoned polyester print shirt exposing a hairy chest with gold chains? No way!
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" This is just as stupid as the fake shows on the Discovery channel like Amish Mafia ..."
But unlike italo-Americans, the Amish don't complain, because they won't know it exists.
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Now you've gone too far. If that doesn't deserve a "Flamebait" mod, I don't know what does.
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I also loved it,,,,, except for the declining era. Easily my favorite magazine growing up. It'd be fun to see it again but print is a tough business to be in. There are huge foundations behind the magazines that deliver quality stories and glossy cont
Fine idea..if... (Score:1)
Don't Leave Optimism Out (Score:4, Interesting)
Please don't leave the optimism out. There's been a resurgence of neo-Malthusian gloom in the last decade or so. If the new Omni becomes a mouthpiece for doom-mongers, I'll gladly walk the other way. Oh, and a little fringe science is kind of fun, too. Maybe ESP and flying saucers have become passé, but I'd like a serving of zero-point energy and parallel universes, please.
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Poorly scanned ones... some downright painful to try to read... Makes me regret getting rid of my collection before i scanned them myself.
"if you want something done right... "
Conspiracy Stories / etc (Score:2)
This trash was not part of the *original* Omni, but what it became towards the bitter end. When Omni finally closed up shop it was a shadow of what it was in the early days, and long overdue.
Ill check it out of course, but ill hold hopes until i see if they can recover the old magic. I doubt they pull it off.
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You know? (Score:1)
I would buy that for a dollar!!
Reboot reboot REBOOT (Score:2, Informative)
If you use the word "reboot" and you aren't referring to a computer, then you are a fucking moron and you don't have a clue.
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No, you're wrong. Anything that can be 'booted' can be 'rebooted'.
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Another magazine of ads? (Score:2)
Why bring back an old magazine title when it will end up being more full of ads then actual articles? 10+ years ago I used to read Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Scientific American all the time and it was worthwhile reading. Now in the last 4-5 years i've noticed in the above mentioned magazines there is literally twice as many ads with the majority of them being 3-8 page ads trying to hype some product, car, etc, the usual two page ads, and so on. Plus, a lot more mail in cards that everyone basi
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Re:Another magazine of ads? (Score:4, Interesting)
SciAm became a total waste of time. Its now written for the absolute bottom, and has pretty much embraced pushing an agenda (environmentalism and global warming) over what they used to do, digest new science for lay people without being condescending. Yes, I agree with their stance on their pet issues, but this doesn't mean I want to be preached at. If I did, I'd borrow my father's copies of The Nation. I hate media with an agenda. I don't want to be preached at, and I don't want to read something that I 100% agree with. They dumbed down the rest of the content, and decided to present it in a "For Dummies" style, with bullets pretty much summarizing the full article before you even read it, so you don't have to actually bother.
PopSci and Mechanics turned into gadget rags, and whorish ad platforms long ago.
Pulp magazines are dead. Or at least should be. I only get some photography magazines now (art focused, not gear focused), and McSweeny's The Believer for the lady friend. I also poach my father's copies of Mother Jones, since they can be pretty good and balanced for a liberal rag, from time to time. I used to get the Economist, but I couldn't keep up with weekly reading, and got sick of the Eurozone Collapsing RIGHT NOW, constantly, for three years. They also decided to not support Android, so I couldn't read it on either my phone or my tablet after upgrading to a Newer android version.
How about rebooting Oui magazine, too? (Score:1)
You make it sound like he's evil (Score:2)
Guccione should be described as something and Penthouse mogul e.g. millionaire-playboy and Penthouse mogul, not just 'Penthouse mogul.'
Remember before there was 50 Shades of Gray there was Penthouse Forum.
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Some issues missing, but available by BitTorrent (Score:2)
The Internet Archive originally had all the issues except for February 1984, but some others have since been removed [archive.org] at the request of the content provider. Most if not all of the original Archive issues are available on a torrent [thepiratebay.sx] created before they went missing. (No, it wasn't me.)
Unfortunately, at least some of the issues were scanned selectively, with some ads being left out, for example.
Okay, so OMNI is returning... (Score:1)