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I'm the editor of Dr. Dobb's. I'm happy to answer any questions.

narrator 12y ago
How about pivoting to a stack overflow model? You guys have a lot of smart people on staff, you could have them answer questions and form the core contributors and moderators of a question and answer site. You could then have a job site for backend revenue, etc.
- brudgers 12y ago
  The big lesson of StackExchange 1.0 is that the StackOverflow model does not so much create communities, as give existing communities a migration path. Unfortunately, Dr. Dobbs's legacy is largely a community of readers, not necessarily a community enthusiastic about crowd-source Q and A.
beached_whale 12y ago
Will another dvd or download of the full content be made available? It's been quite some time since the last and it would make a nice parting gift to buy.
michaelhoffman 12y ago
No questions, just sad to see it go. So long and thanks for all the fish.
sillysaurus3 12y ago
I don't know if this is an appropriate question, but: Why would a well-known site be sunset by its owner? In one word, revenue. Four years ago, when I came to Dr. Dobb's, we had close to $3 million in revenue, almost all of it from advertising. Despite our excellent growth on the editorial side, our revenue declined such that today it's barely 30% of what it was when I started. A friend of mine's small business observed almost this same phenomenon. Can you elaborate why revenue has declined, even though page views have continued to grow? Is advertising fundamentally changing, and page views are no longer nearly as valuable as they once were? Or is it specifically because of Dr. Dobbs' context as a software dev news/blog site? In particular, click fraud seems to be stinging my friend's business, but I assume it's not something that simple for Dr. Dobbs. Also, apologies if this sounds stupid. I don't have a background in advertising or marketing, but I find the subject fascinating and have been trying to learn about it. EDIT: The next part addresses this: This is because in the last 18 months, there has been a marked shift in how vendors value website advertising. They've come to realize that website ads tend to be less effective than they once were. What I'm asking is, in what ways has the landscape changed? EDIT 2: Thank you for Dr. Dobbs. It's been wonderful over the years, and I'm sad to see it go.
- bachmeier 12y ago
  I can guess as to a few reasons: - Many websites these days are designed to get you to "accidentally" click on ads if you're using a mobile device. I'm not at all surprised that advertisers are catching on to this. - Websites (CNN, I'm looking at you) that move around to trick you into clicking on ads. - Autoplay video ads that almost make ad blocking software mandatory.
- airza 12y ago
  Adblock is pretty ubiquitous in developer circles?
  - sumedh 12y ago
    I am think that almost all people in tech would be using adblock.
    - lordelph 12y ago
      This, then, is the price of adblock?
      - flurpitude 12y ago
        Well, it seems that vendors have decided web advertising is not valuable even among user demographics that don't block ads. AdBlock may not be making all that much difference if the basic problem is that people ignore ads even when they see them. That said, there must still be some value in brand recognition. I guess it's just not as much value as vendors had previously ascribed to these ads.
      - bsg75 12y ago
        Its the price of ad models that (generically) overwhelm content and users.
    - dalke 12y ago
      I'm one of the few then. I feel so special! (To be fair, I have to click to start Flash, because I haven't updated it and Firefox says it has security holes, which helps a lot.)
jgeorge 12y ago
No questions here either, just condolences and thanks for everything.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
otoburb 12y ago
Thank you for the incredible work and continuing the Dr. Dobb's tradition for as long as you have.
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  You're very welcome. Thank you
soapdog 12y ago
Just to say thanks! I am 34 and and live in Brazil. The magazine was really expensive here, more than USD 30 per issue but still I got all issues. It helped me make my career path and I still cherish them a lot. Thanks a lot for the hard work!
mkingston 12y ago
I've found Dr. Dobb's hugely useful over the years. I suspect mostly as a result of search queries; as I hadn't realised what a formidable team of contributors you had until this post. Sorry to see it go, and thank you! Edit: I guess there's a lesson to be learned here, to try to be conscious of the things I use (I wasn't, really) and do what I can to support them.
OMGWTF 12y ago
When will the site be switched off? I.e. when will links/bookmarks stop working?
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  UBM has guaranteed a minimum of 12 months. But I expect it will last much longer. Hosting static content is inexpensive.
stefanmielke 12y ago
Is there a date to shut the site down forever? Or you will continue to operate "forever" with no new stuff?
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  No, there is no date currently planned. Parent company has guaranteed all content for at least a year, but I expect it will be available a long time beyond that. As I mentioned below, static content is cheap to host.
beagle3 12y ago
Thanks for that. A few years ago, that would be 20 or so, a friend loaned me a CD with all the magazine text from inception until that time. Is there any chance for a final "all of ddj" DVD?
- __d 12y ago
  I'd be interested in this too. Linux Journal puts out their annual DVDs; I tend to buy the latest and gift last year's onwards.
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  Good idea. I'll look into that!
- 72deluxe 12y ago
  I would be extremely interested in this too. There's just so many fascinating articles.
- divegeek 12y ago
  Oh, yeah. I'd pay good money for that. It'd be fascinating from a historical perspective, as well as interesting and useful for the content itself.
- joe_bleau 12y ago
  I'd order one.
  - jefurii 12y ago
    Me too.
- anw 12y ago
  Oh, how I wish back-issue collections also included the advertisements that ran in them. Just the same as old comic books were filled with brine shrimp and muscle building ads, I would look forward to seeing those old ads about compilers that were _only_ $199.99! and programs that "look the same on Windows, and on Macintosh!" Seeing these things helps gives a context to the times in which they were printed, and allows for an appreciation for just how far we've come.
boo_radley 12y ago
Dr. Dobb's was such an integral part of my education that I feel like I've failed you in some way. I hope that the staff consider transfer their archives to archive.org.
- VLM 12y ago
  They're currently selling version 6 of their developers DVD for like $75, also containing TPJ and sysadmin and dr dobbs up to -09 or so. I paid for my copy. Historically they've been civil about upgrade policy from old versions. I would guess if that revenue stream dried up...
lorddoig 12y ago
Presumably UBM is willing to sell the brand? I can't say I'm terribly familiar with Dr Dobb's but it seems a terrible shame and quite inefficient that something in such high demand can't find a way to survive. Feels like there's a win-win situation hidden in the world somewhere that needs uncovered.
- VonGuard 12y ago
  You could probably buy this brand for low 5 figures. 90% of magazines that have gone under in the past 15 years weren't even sold. The few that I've heard of that were went for super duper low numbers, like low 5 digits.
a_e_k 12y ago
Do you think there could ever be a revival of print programming magazines like DDJ? Blog posts on the web and whatnot can be nice and timely, but I really miss the older style of longer-form, curated, edited articles that I could physically hold in my hands and flip through each month.
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  I'd love to go back to a print magazine. The problem is that they're hugely expensive to produce, print, and mail. The economics of them are much worse than publishing online.
- anthony_d 12y ago
  FWIW, I enjoy my monthly "Communications of the ACM". I'd recommend a membership if you don't mind spending the cash.
- qznc 12y ago
  E.g. http://hackermonthly.com/ http://hackermonthly.com/ There is little editing going on there, though.
pjmlp 12y ago
Sad to hear about it. I bought it every month since the early 90's until it went digital. Alongside Computer Shopper UK edition and The C User's Journal (latter The C/C++ User's Journal), Dr Dobbs was my door to the computing world. In a country where BBS were too expensive for most families and the Internet was yet to come, I waited religiously for the next issue delivery.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
VonGuard 12y ago
Andrew: Alex Handy, here. So sad to hear this. Dobbs was an institution, and a very respected one at that. Drop me a line, let me know what you're up to next.
wilsonfiifi 12y ago
Will the site's content be archived or published in some form or the other?
logn 12y ago
Did you ever consider hosting your own job ads site? This is how Slashdot is still alive and maybe why Stack Overflow was made. At $300 per ad, you'd need about 800 ads a month to reach $3 mil/year. Achievable?
- alain94040 12y ago
  There may be one thing companies might be willing to pay for that is specific to Dr. Dobbs. If you read that advanced article on C++ a few days ago, and you are now reading this in-depth description of scaling Linux internals, I very much would have a job for you. What other site can say the same?
  - logn 12y ago
    Yes, this is actually one case where as a privacy conscious user, I would be ok with browsing data being used for job ad purposes. Also job ads are probably the only ones I click on. And if the ads are intra-site I don't think AdBlock would touch them (even if they do, their AdBlock detection script could say, "looking for a job? make an adblock exception for us", which is valuable data in itself). Besides, a link in the header to a job board might generate enough traffic alone. Dr. Dobb's Jobs has a nice ring. And a freelancer board could be Dr. Dobb's Odd Jobs :)
whistlerbrk 12y ago
Hi Andrew, I'm curious to know - have you explored other forms of revenue like sponsored content. For instance there is a great deal of paid software out there and a great number of companies create infrastructure for complex software out there like (e.g. Hadoop). Today companies more than ever are pouring their advertising budgets into marketing budgets to create content around their brands... this could perhaps let you stay on mission creating valuable content for the most difficult software while providing a revenue source. I'm throwing out there what I'm sure you have already considered, but I hate to see a good thing go!
bane 12y ago
I'm very sorry to see it go. A nice collection of Dr. Dobb's magazines is an incredible personal resource. Any chance of donating a digital collection of the magazine to archive.org for posterity?
dtjones 12y ago
It sounds like there was no vetting of alternative monetization strategies for the website. I say this because it looks like the site is still running direct-to-advertiser deals, when they could open their remnant inventory up to auction systems via an SSP and tie in yield optimization strategies with their sales team. If the site has high quality traffic and 10MM pv/month they shouldn't be closing the doors. Based on a 5 minute look at the website and some of the ads seems like the site is restricting its ad revenue to software industry vendors when they could open it up to the rest of the advertising world that wants to pay to serve an in-view ad to a real person with a software engineer's salary.
- ternaryoperator 12y ago
  Do you think that no one at UBM, a company with more than 30 publications, thought of that?
  - blister 12y ago
    It seems to me like this article is a concession towards the fact that they haven't thought of anything. They are already profitable. That means that they have money to experiment with additional monetization strategies that would NOT involve simply closing.
  - dtjones 12y ago
    I don't think anyone has. I've never heard of UBM, but the article portrays it as a company with a vertically focused print and tradeshow revenue model that has a few web properties. The 1996 website monetization model has been disrupted within the last 5 years with ad exchanges that hold auctions in real-time, and most companies with roots in print don't have a clue whats happening in their industry - see new york times, time magazine, plenty more whose traditional ad sales revenues are plummeting IMO a web property would fail to adapt to the modern revenue model because 1) C level execs don't know what to change it to, 2) they don't understand the new model, or 3) they think that auction based CPMs will be too low so they haven't tested it. In the case of DrDobbs.com with solid traffic and a high quality, established b2b audience, not sure it makes sense to fold the property. Disclaimer: I used to work at an ad agency and I now work at a data company for ad exchanges. Edit: here is a 3rd party source on growth in the RTB channel, to which UBM has no exposure: www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Programmatic-Ad-Spend-Tops-10-Billion-This-Year-Double-by-2016/1011312
pmelendez 12y ago
I saw this coming after the printed version was closed down and as a former subscriber I am very saddened by this news. I believe the need for a high quality publication oriented to professional developers there still exists. Where do you think people would be going now that Dr. Dobbs won't be available?
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  As I say in the article, it's hard to know where to go. There is nowhere I know of that covers the same ground (long-form articles, lots of code, algorithms, and serious reviews).
  - pmelendez 12y ago
    Thanks for your response! You guys will be missed for sure. Maybe the group (editors and contributors) could start a spin off?
SandersAK 12y ago
hey Andrew, I wonder if you could make enough revenue via crowdfunded support? Recurring subscriptions and one time contributions can really add up. At Beacon, we helped Techdirt.com raise $70k to cover Net Neutrality full time. I think your community is incredibly passionate and probably would cover what you need. Email me (adrian@beaconreader.com if you're keen, we'd love to help (and give you a big discount on our cut). cheers Adrian
- petercooper 12y ago
  Did you ever write up anything about that process? It sounds like an interesting story.
WalterBright 12y ago
Andrew, it's been an honor and a privilege to be able to write for Dr. Dobb's, the greatest of the programming magazines. Dr. Dobb's has been an enormously positive influence on the industry. I am very sad to see the end of the era. Thank you and Deirdre and the rest of the DDJ staff for your awesome work!
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  Thank you, Walter. It's been a pleasure having you blog for us. Good luck with the continued advancement of D.
  - TheCondor 12y ago
    Thank you to both of you and all the staff. In the wasteland of "computer" magazines, DDJ was a real gem, it stayed true, there was something interesting in every edition (truly impressive) and it really had a great f-ing run. It was the "good stuff" thanks
rexreed 12y ago
Under what company / trade name will you be operating your analyst business and what will your focus be? Will you be running a subscription-style analyst business or just writing white papers for hire?
- andrewbinstock 12y ago
  I'll be working at pacificdataworks.com. My focus will be technology, with a special oritentation towards software development. The analysis will mostly be done privately for clients. For example, they'll say "we can't figure our why our JIRA competitor isn't getting any traction. Can you review our product, JIRA and these two lesser competitors and give us unbiased info on the pros and cons of each?" It's amazing how difficult it is to do that kind of analysis in-house. For example, it's very difficult for companies to look at a special feature they added at great cost and figure out why it's not getting traction or attention. Or they know but have no way to communicate the reality because of internal politics. So, having an outside voice say "this should be removed" or "this needs to have an API" or the like makes it much easier to have the conversation. And so on.
jtwebman 12y ago
Have you guys thought of maybe opening up to allow submissions instead of paying the writers? I know plenty of people including me that enjoy writing and would submit to have blog posts as content on your site as well.
Fede_V 12y ago
Hey, not really a question, but.. thanks for making sure that all previous content stays up. I can't claim to have been an avid reader, but I've read several excellent articles on your mag, and knowing that it will always be available is a very generous gesture.
kfcm 12y ago
Do you think UBM would be amenable to a "Final Cut" of the Dr. Dobb's Developer's Library to include everything from Dr. Dobb's, C/C++ UJ, Sys Admin, etc?
richm44 12y ago
I'd just like to say thank you. Dr Dobb's was superb.
FrankenPC 12y ago
I've been programming off and on for about 35 years. Dr. Dobb's has been a part of that life the entire time. Thank you. Best of luck to you.
jarjoura 12y ago
Sorry if I missed you mentioning already, but did you attempt a paywall option like New York Times?
drig 12y ago
Not a question, just saying thanks. Your articles in the 1990s on VGA's modeX were the basis for a long-time obsession of mine: writing VGA graphic drivers to support better ways to display fractals. My college senior thesis was based on it. Since then, Dr. Dobbs has been the shining example of highly technical material. Thank you for everything your magazine meant.
anw 12y ago
First of all, I'd like to offer my appreciation to the Dr. Dobb's staff, along with Andrew Binstock (I thoroughly enjoyed and found myself nodding my head at articles such as "Just Let Me Code"[1]). I still have some of the magazines from 1994 floating around. It's amazing how nostalgic they are now—but the pouring back over those magazines brings me back to my younger days where computers were more mysterious, and creating things was more magical. Dr Dobbs provided a great service. They offered informative articles on not only programming, but also on the user experience, design, IDEs, math, and the whole "programmer" gamut—and they did such a wide spread without losing quality. I do wish you could name an alternative to this, but I find myself coming up empty, as well. The same as you mentioned in regards to events, these types of information are now spread througout multiple sites: HN for general 'tech' news, MOOCs for programming, sometimes Reddit for actual helpful information. I look forward to seeing if people will try to fill this gap of an all-in-one hub, that also has quite knowledgeable authors. I do wonder, this article mentions Dr Dobbs staying constant; constant in delivering quality articles, constant in its design, and so forth. Would you say this is an issue of not adapting to current trends (or "with the times")? It seemed [to me] that the move from print to digital was a late move that could have been done in a better way. While the content is great, I've ironically found the online site not as engaging as having the print copies in hand. I do not know many people who subscribe to online only publications, and of the ones I do know, they usually will go through a service such as Amazon. Also, while I understand the anecdote about ad revenue and clicking, it does bring up a fair point. I do not know many tech saavy people who knowingly click on advertisements (if they're not blocked, to begin with). In fact, as a technician at an old job, we were told to warn the general public about what sites they visit, and to make sure they're not clicking on ads, as they might be "unscrupulous" [former manager's words]. Could this offer an opportunity for a company to come along and create and display advertisements that the majority of people will know are safe? While Googles ads have their name displayed, I know many people who feel "odd" seeing text ads, and feel they're trying to trick them. There must be a better way to make the user feel comfortable clicking, as well as letting them know the content and site they will go to are safe. Flash ads, and a mile long URL being pointed to are not going to do it. [1] http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/just-let-me-code/240168735 http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/just-let-me-code/240168735
guiambros 12y ago
What a sad, sad day. I grew up reading Dr. Dobb's, and learned a lot from it. Still remember some of the articles, more than 20 years later. I used to buy the paper magazine every month. There was only one newsstand that would sell it, in a city 25 miles away from where I lived. It was worth it every time. It'll be dearly missed.
derekp7 12y ago
Since Dr. Dobb's has some amount of brand recognition, would it be possible to capitalize on that? For example, maybe come out with a line of authoritative technical books that are Dr. Dobb's branded, that would end up having the same recognition as O'reilly's nutshell books? Then the website / magazine would end up functioning as a loss leader to promote the book series (or other ventures).
- dagw 12y ago
  I wonder how much brand recognition Dr. Dobb's really has though. I certainly grew up with it, but how many 20 year old programmers even really know what Dr. Dobb's is, let alone have a strong positive association with the brand?
  - Sevrene 12y ago
    Well I for one had no idea who or what Dr. Dobb's was before this submission.
    - _nedR 12y ago
      Me neither. I am 25 and have never heard or come across this site through Google or any other way. Judging from the upvotes this article has, a lot of HN readers clearly know and care about this. I am curious as to what demographic, age-group, was drdobbs popular with. Was it something like Slashdot which was popular back in the day?
      - kayamon 12y ago
        There was once a time, back in the mists of history, when we had to print our websites out and buy them from newsagents.
      - dagw 12y ago
        In the 80's and early 90's Dr Dobbs was probably the eminent source of advanced programming knowledge, and a pretty huge influence on programmer culture in general. It was for example the place where the GNU manifesto was initially published, and many of the big name programmers of the day where regular contributors. It also published a number of fairly legendary article series where many of its readers got their first introduction to topics like operating system design or writing your own C compiler. So basically if you programmed in the 80's or 90's it was most likely a huge influence on you.
easytiger 12y ago
Did UBM attempt to sell DDJ before taking this step?

How about pivoting to a stack overflow model? You guys have a lot of smart people on staff, you could have them answer questions and form the core contributors and moderators of a question and answer site. You could then have a job site for backend revenue, etc.

brudgers 12y ago
The big lesson of StackExchange 1.0 is that the StackOverflow model does not so much create communities, as give existing communities a migration path. Unfortunately, Dr. Dobbs's legacy is largely a community of readers, not necessarily a community enthusiastic about crowd-source Q and A.

beached_whale 12y ago

Will another dvd or download of the full content be made available? It's been quite some time since the last and it would make a nice parting gift to buy.

michaelhoffman 12y ago

No questions, just sad to see it go. So long and thanks for all the fish.

sillysaurus3 12y ago

I don't know if this is an appropriate question, but: Why would a well-known site be sunset by its owner? In one word, revenue. Four years ago, when I came to Dr. Dobb's, we had close to $3 million in revenue, almost all of it from advertising. Despite our excellent growth on the editorial side, our revenue declined such that today it's barely 30% of what it was when I started. A friend of mine's small business observed almost this same phenomenon. Can you elaborate why revenue has declined, even though page views have continued to grow? Is advertising fundamentally changing, and page views are no longer nearly as valuable as they once were? Or is it specifically because of Dr. Dobbs' context as a software dev news/blog site? In particular, click fraud seems to be stinging my friend's business, but I assume it's not something that simple for Dr. Dobbs. Also, apologies if this sounds stupid. I don't have a background in advertising or marketing, but I find the subject fascinating and have been trying to learn about it. EDIT: The next part addresses this: This is because in the last 18 months, there has been a marked shift in how vendors value website advertising. They've come to realize that website ads tend to be less effective than they once were. What I'm asking is, in what ways has the landscape changed? EDIT 2: Thank you for Dr. Dobbs. It's been wonderful over the years, and I'm sad to see it go.

bachmeier 12y ago
I can guess as to a few reasons: - Many websites these days are designed to get you to "accidentally" click on ads if you're using a mobile device. I'm not at all surprised that advertisers are catching on to this. - Websites (CNN, I'm looking at you) that move around to trick you into clicking on ads. - Autoplay video ads that almost make ad blocking software mandatory.
airza 12y ago
Adblock is pretty ubiquitous in developer circles?
- sumedh 12y ago
  I am think that almost all people in tech would be using adblock.
  - lordelph 12y ago
    This, then, is the price of adblock?
    - flurpitude 12y ago
      Well, it seems that vendors have decided web advertising is not valuable even among user demographics that don't block ads. AdBlock may not be making all that much difference if the basic problem is that people ignore ads even when they see them. That said, there must still be some value in brand recognition. I guess it's just not as much value as vendors had previously ascribed to these ads.
    - bsg75 12y ago
      Its the price of ad models that (generically) overwhelm content and users.
  - dalke 12y ago
    I'm one of the few then. I feel so special! (To be fair, I have to click to start Flash, because I haven't updated it and Firefox says it has security holes, which helps a lot.)

jgeorge 12y ago

No questions here either, just condolences and thanks for everything.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

otoburb 12y ago

Thank you for the incredible work and continuing the Dr. Dobb's tradition for as long as you have.

andrewbinstock 12y ago
You're very welcome. Thank you

soapdog 12y ago

Just to say thanks! I am 34 and and live in Brazil. The magazine was really expensive here, more than USD 30 per issue but still I got all issues. It helped me make my career path and I still cherish them a lot. Thanks a lot for the hard work!

mkingston 12y ago

I've found Dr. Dobb's hugely useful over the years. I suspect mostly as a result of search queries; as I hadn't realised what a formidable team of contributors you had until this post. Sorry to see it go, and thank you! Edit: I guess there's a lesson to be learned here, to try to be conscious of the things I use (I wasn't, really) and do what I can to support them.

OMGWTF 12y ago

When will the site be switched off? I.e. when will links/bookmarks stop working?

andrewbinstock 12y ago
UBM has guaranteed a minimum of 12 months. But I expect it will last much longer. Hosting static content is inexpensive.

stefanmielke 12y ago

Is there a date to shut the site down forever? Or you will continue to operate "forever" with no new stuff?

andrewbinstock 12y ago
No, there is no date currently planned. Parent company has guaranteed all content for at least a year, but I expect it will be available a long time beyond that. As I mentioned below, static content is cheap to host.

beagle3 12y ago

Thanks for that. A few years ago, that would be 20 or so, a friend loaned me a CD with all the magazine text from inception until that time. Is there any chance for a final "all of ddj" DVD?

__d 12y ago
I'd be interested in this too. Linux Journal puts out their annual DVDs; I tend to buy the latest and gift last year's onwards.
andrewbinstock 12y ago
Good idea. I'll look into that!
72deluxe 12y ago
I would be extremely interested in this too. There's just so many fascinating articles.
divegeek 12y ago
Oh, yeah. I'd pay good money for that. It'd be fascinating from a historical perspective, as well as interesting and useful for the content itself.
joe_bleau 12y ago
I'd order one.
- jefurii 12y ago
  Me too.
anw 12y ago
Oh, how I wish back-issue collections also included the advertisements that ran in them. Just the same as old comic books were filled with brine shrimp and muscle building ads, I would look forward to seeing those old ads about compilers that were _only_ $199.99! and programs that "look the same on Windows, and on Macintosh!" Seeing these things helps gives a context to the times in which they were printed, and allows for an appreciation for just how far we've come.

boo_radley 12y ago

Dr. Dobb's was such an integral part of my education that I feel like I've failed you in some way. I hope that the staff consider transfer their archives to archive.org.

VLM 12y ago
They're currently selling version 6 of their developers DVD for like $75, also containing TPJ and sysadmin and dr dobbs up to -09 or so. I paid for my copy. Historically they've been civil about upgrade policy from old versions. I would guess if that revenue stream dried up...

lorddoig 12y ago

Presumably UBM is willing to sell the brand? I can't say I'm terribly familiar with Dr Dobb's but it seems a terrible shame and quite inefficient that something in such high demand can't find a way to survive. Feels like there's a win-win situation hidden in the world somewhere that needs uncovered.

VonGuard 12y ago
You could probably buy this brand for low 5 figures. 90% of magazines that have gone under in the past 15 years weren't even sold. The few that I've heard of that were went for super duper low numbers, like low 5 digits.

a_e_k 12y ago

Do you think there could ever be a revival of print programming magazines like DDJ? Blog posts on the web and whatnot can be nice and timely, but I really miss the older style of longer-form, curated, edited articles that I could physically hold in my hands and flip through each month.

andrewbinstock 12y ago
I'd love to go back to a print magazine. The problem is that they're hugely expensive to produce, print, and mail. The economics of them are much worse than publishing online.
anthony_d 12y ago
FWIW, I enjoy my monthly "Communications of the ACM". I'd recommend a membership if you don't mind spending the cash.
qznc 12y ago
E.g. http://hackermonthly.com/ http://hackermonthly.com/ There is little editing going on there, though.

pjmlp 12y ago

Sad to hear about it. I bought it every month since the early 90's until it went digital. Alongside Computer Shopper UK edition and The C User's Journal (latter The C/C++ User's Journal), Dr Dobbs was my door to the computing world. In a country where BBS were too expensive for most families and the Internet was yet to come, I waited religiously for the next issue delivery.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

VonGuard 12y ago

Andrew: Alex Handy, here. So sad to hear this. Dobbs was an institution, and a very respected one at that. Drop me a line, let me know what you're up to next.

wilsonfiifi 12y ago

Will the site's content be archived or published in some form or the other?

logn 12y ago

Did you ever consider hosting your own job ads site? This is how Slashdot is still alive and maybe why Stack Overflow was made. At $300 per ad, you'd need about 800 ads a month to reach $3 mil/year. Achievable?

alain94040 12y ago
There may be one thing companies might be willing to pay for that is specific to Dr. Dobbs. If you read that advanced article on C++ a few days ago, and you are now reading this in-depth description of scaling Linux internals, I very much would have a job for you. What other site can say the same?
- logn 12y ago
  Yes, this is actually one case where as a privacy conscious user, I would be ok with browsing data being used for job ad purposes. Also job ads are probably the only ones I click on. And if the ads are intra-site I don't think AdBlock would touch them (even if they do, their AdBlock detection script could say, "looking for a job? make an adblock exception for us", which is valuable data in itself). Besides, a link in the header to a job board might generate enough traffic alone. Dr. Dobb's Jobs has a nice ring. And a freelancer board could be Dr. Dobb's Odd Jobs :)

whistlerbrk 12y ago

Hi Andrew, I'm curious to know - have you explored other forms of revenue like sponsored content. For instance there is a great deal of paid software out there and a great number of companies create infrastructure for complex software out there like (e.g. Hadoop). Today companies more than ever are pouring their advertising budgets into marketing budgets to create content around their brands... this could perhaps let you stay on mission creating valuable content for the most difficult software while providing a revenue source. I'm throwing out there what I'm sure you have already considered, but I hate to see a good thing go!

bane 12y ago

I'm very sorry to see it go. A nice collection of Dr. Dobb's magazines is an incredible personal resource. Any chance of donating a digital collection of the magazine to archive.org for posterity?

dtjones 12y ago

It sounds like there was no vetting of alternative monetization strategies for the website. I say this because it looks like the site is still running direct-to-advertiser deals, when they could open their remnant inventory up to auction systems via an SSP and tie in yield optimization strategies with their sales team. If the site has high quality traffic and 10MM pv/month they shouldn't be closing the doors. Based on a 5 minute look at the website and some of the ads seems like the site is restricting its ad revenue to software industry vendors when they could open it up to the rest of the advertising world that wants to pay to serve an in-view ad to a real person with a software engineer's salary.

ternaryoperator 12y ago
Do you think that no one at UBM, a company with more than 30 publications, thought of that?
- blister 12y ago
  It seems to me like this article is a concession towards the fact that they haven't thought of anything. They are already profitable. That means that they have money to experiment with additional monetization strategies that would NOT involve simply closing.
- dtjones 12y ago
  I don't think anyone has. I've never heard of UBM, but the article portrays it as a company with a vertically focused print and tradeshow revenue model that has a few web properties. The 1996 website monetization model has been disrupted within the last 5 years with ad exchanges that hold auctions in real-time, and most companies with roots in print don't have a clue whats happening in their industry - see new york times, time magazine, plenty more whose traditional ad sales revenues are plummeting IMO a web property would fail to adapt to the modern revenue model because 1) C level execs don't know what to change it to, 2) they don't understand the new model, or 3) they think that auction based CPMs will be too low so they haven't tested it. In the case of DrDobbs.com with solid traffic and a high quality, established b2b audience, not sure it makes sense to fold the property. Disclaimer: I used to work at an ad agency and I now work at a data company for ad exchanges. Edit: here is a 3rd party source on growth in the RTB channel, to which UBM has no exposure: www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Programmatic-Ad-Spend-Tops-10-Billion-This-Year-Double-by-2016/1011312

pmelendez 12y ago

I saw this coming after the printed version was closed down and as a former subscriber I am very saddened by this news. I believe the need for a high quality publication oriented to professional developers there still exists. Where do you think people would be going now that Dr. Dobbs won't be available?

andrewbinstock 12y ago
As I say in the article, it's hard to know where to go. There is nowhere I know of that covers the same ground (long-form articles, lots of code, algorithms, and serious reviews).
- pmelendez 12y ago
  Thanks for your response! You guys will be missed for sure. Maybe the group (editors and contributors) could start a spin off?

SandersAK 12y ago

hey Andrew, I wonder if you could make enough revenue via crowdfunded support? Recurring subscriptions and one time contributions can really add up. At Beacon, we helped Techdirt.com raise $70k to cover Net Neutrality full time. I think your community is incredibly passionate and probably would cover what you need. Email me (adrian@beaconreader.com if you're keen, we'd love to help (and give you a big discount on our cut). cheers Adrian

petercooper 12y ago
Did you ever write up anything about that process? It sounds like an interesting story.

WalterBright 12y ago

Andrew, it's been an honor and a privilege to be able to write for Dr. Dobb's, the greatest of the programming magazines. Dr. Dobb's has been an enormously positive influence on the industry. I am very sad to see the end of the era. Thank you and Deirdre and the rest of the DDJ staff for your awesome work!

andrewbinstock 12y ago
Thank you, Walter. It's been a pleasure having you blog for us. Good luck with the continued advancement of D.
- TheCondor 12y ago
  Thank you to both of you and all the staff. In the wasteland of "computer" magazines, DDJ was a real gem, it stayed true, there was something interesting in every edition (truly impressive) and it really had a great f-ing run. It was the "good stuff" thanks

rexreed 12y ago

Under what company / trade name will you be operating your analyst business and what will your focus be? Will you be running a subscription-style analyst business or just writing white papers for hire?

andrewbinstock 12y ago
I'll be working at pacificdataworks.com. My focus will be technology, with a special oritentation towards software development. The analysis will mostly be done privately for clients. For example, they'll say "we can't figure our why our JIRA competitor isn't getting any traction. Can you review our product, JIRA and these two lesser competitors and give us unbiased info on the pros and cons of each?" It's amazing how difficult it is to do that kind of analysis in-house. For example, it's very difficult for companies to look at a special feature they added at great cost and figure out why it's not getting traction or attention. Or they know but have no way to communicate the reality because of internal politics. So, having an outside voice say "this should be removed" or "this needs to have an API" or the like makes it much easier to have the conversation. And so on.

jtwebman 12y ago

Have you guys thought of maybe opening up to allow submissions instead of paying the writers? I know plenty of people including me that enjoy writing and would submit to have blog posts as content on your site as well.

Fede_V 12y ago

Hey, not really a question, but.. thanks for making sure that all previous content stays up. I can't claim to have been an avid reader, but I've read several excellent articles on your mag, and knowing that it will always be available is a very generous gesture.

kfcm 12y ago

Do you think UBM would be amenable to a "Final Cut" of the Dr. Dobb's Developer's Library to include everything from Dr. Dobb's, C/C++ UJ, Sys Admin, etc?

richm44 12y ago

I'd just like to say thank you. Dr Dobb's was superb.

FrankenPC 12y ago

I've been programming off and on for about 35 years. Dr. Dobb's has been a part of that life the entire time. Thank you. Best of luck to you.

jarjoura 12y ago

Sorry if I missed you mentioning already, but did you attempt a paywall option like New York Times?

drig 12y ago

Not a question, just saying thanks. Your articles in the 1990s on VGA's modeX were the basis for a long-time obsession of mine: writing VGA graphic drivers to support better ways to display fractals. My college senior thesis was based on it. Since then, Dr. Dobbs has been the shining example of highly technical material. Thank you for everything your magazine meant.

anw 12y ago

First of all, I'd like to offer my appreciation to the Dr. Dobb's staff, along with Andrew Binstock (I thoroughly enjoyed and found myself nodding my head at articles such as "Just Let Me Code"[1]). I still have some of the magazines from 1994 floating around. It's amazing how nostalgic they are now—but the pouring back over those magazines brings me back to my younger days where computers were more mysterious, and creating things was more magical. Dr Dobbs provided a great service. They offered informative articles on not only programming, but also on the user experience, design, IDEs, math, and the whole "programmer" gamut—and they did such a wide spread without losing quality. I do wish you could name an alternative to this, but I find myself coming up empty, as well. The same as you mentioned in regards to events, these types of information are now spread througout multiple sites: HN for general 'tech' news, MOOCs for programming, sometimes Reddit for actual helpful information. I look forward to seeing if people will try to fill this gap of an all-in-one hub, that also has quite knowledgeable authors. I do wonder, this article mentions Dr Dobbs staying constant; constant in delivering quality articles, constant in its design, and so forth. Would you say this is an issue of not adapting to current trends (or "with the times")? It seemed [to me] that the move from print to digital was a late move that could have been done in a better way. While the content is great, I've ironically found the online site not as engaging as having the print copies in hand. I do not know many people who subscribe to online only publications, and of the ones I do know, they usually will go through a service such as Amazon. Also, while I understand the anecdote about ad revenue and clicking, it does bring up a fair point. I do not know many tech saavy people who knowingly click on advertisements (if they're not blocked, to begin with). In fact, as a technician at an old job, we were told to warn the general public about what sites they visit, and to make sure they're not clicking on ads, as they might be "unscrupulous" [former manager's words]. Could this offer an opportunity for a company to come along and create and display advertisements that the majority of people will know are safe? While Googles ads have their name displayed, I know many people who feel "odd" seeing text ads, and feel they're trying to trick them. There must be a better way to make the user feel comfortable clicking, as well as letting them know the content and site they will go to are safe. Flash ads, and a mile long URL being pointed to are not going to do it. [1] http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/just-let-me-code/240168735 http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/just-let-me-code/240168735

guiambros 12y ago

What a sad, sad day. I grew up reading Dr. Dobb's, and learned a lot from it. Still remember some of the articles, more than 20 years later. I used to buy the paper magazine every month. There was only one newsstand that would sell it, in a city 25 miles away from where I lived. It was worth it every time. It'll be dearly missed.

derekp7 12y ago

Since Dr. Dobb's has some amount of brand recognition, would it be possible to capitalize on that? For example, maybe come out with a line of authoritative technical books that are Dr. Dobb's branded, that would end up having the same recognition as O'reilly's nutshell books? Then the website / magazine would end up functioning as a loss leader to promote the book series (or other ventures).

dagw 12y ago
I wonder how much brand recognition Dr. Dobb's really has though. I certainly grew up with it, but how many 20 year old programmers even really know what Dr. Dobb's is, let alone have a strong positive association with the brand?
- Sevrene 12y ago
  Well I for one had no idea who or what Dr. Dobb's was before this submission.
  - _nedR 12y ago
    Me neither. I am 25 and have never heard or come across this site through Google or any other way. Judging from the upvotes this article has, a lot of HN readers clearly know and care about this. I am curious as to what demographic, age-group, was drdobbs popular with. Was it something like Slashdot which was popular back in the day?
    - kayamon 12y ago
      There was once a time, back in the mists of history, when we had to print our websites out and buy them from newsagents.
    - dagw 12y ago
      In the 80's and early 90's Dr Dobbs was probably the eminent source of advanced programming knowledge, and a pretty huge influence on programmer culture in general. It was for example the place where the GNU manifesto was initially published, and many of the big name programmers of the day where regular contributors. It also published a number of fairly legendary article series where many of its readers got their first introduction to topics like operating system design or writing your own C compiler. So basically if you programmed in the 80's or 90's it was most likely a huge influence on you.

easytiger 12y ago

Did UBM attempt to sell DDJ before taking this step?