you just hit the nail on the head, i think. with cheap or even free patterns and articles on the web, maybe mags can't sell enough subscriptions to stay alive. that would be too bad. i like to hold a hard copy in color, on slick paper, with interesting ads, articles by famous quilters, etc. in my hand. i look forward to getting them in the mail, too. the price of progress, right?
the web really is wiping out a lot of small things that we all take for granted and even though it's much more affordable, we lose the 'people' aspect of so much of our lives. how sad.