Confirmed: Hefner Admits Dumbing Down Of Playboy

[Syrinx]

HEFNER: Well, I think it’s obvious for a lot of reasons that there is a certain dumbing down of society.
We get our news and information now by sound bites, the briefest kinds of moments on television and radio and on the Internet. And I think the nature of things also is that the younger generation has a shorter attention span. You see that reflected not only in magazines like “Maxim,” but you also see it in changes that have taken place in “Playboy.”
In other words, readers, by and large, are not as given to a thoughtful, extended periods of time with fiction or nonfiction. I think we’re bombarded now by so many different sources of information, that it’s kind of pick and choose.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/944091.asp

[maxanne]

1. bwwaaaahahahahahahaha

The sad thing is he probably thinks it is an intellectual publication.

[EOTE]

3. It used to be....

And some people really do read it for the articles.

I however read it for the boobies.

[Syrinx]

7. And even the boobies aren't as interesting as they used to be

:(

[patdem]

2. so now a guy can't say...I only get it for the articles?

No articles in it! LOL :bounce:

[Interrobang]

4. Speaking as a writer, that SUX!

Playboy used to be one of the *best* markets for fiction, particularly SF. Playboy was the king of the "big slicks." I mean, they paid a *lot*, and a writer could get career-making exposure placing there. With Playboy out of the picture as a good market for fiction, it's becoming harder and harder for writers to make their living writing fiction alone.

[mkregel]

5. I agree!

Back in the 1970's and 80's they hosted some of the best fiction - and had the Playboy Fiction Contest which had some great stuff!

Stephen King, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut - I was exposed to all of these writers not through my lit classes but through PLAYBOY.

Playboy was aiming at the ultimate male magazine. The fact that Maxim has replaced it with it's racism and NASCAR fixations shows how stupid of a country we have become.

[Syrinx]

6. In college, a professor told us to read it for fiction

And the professor was a straight woman. I doubt she does that anymore.

[LynneSin]

8. I guess folks can no longer say "I read it for the articles"

:eyes:

[Syrinx]

9. Kick myself, because....

I think it was the late-night crowd that was discussing the fall of Playboy recently.

If we could get a huge thread of remorse for the Playboy that we knew and loved, maybe we could send it to Hef, and maybe he'll change it back for us.

:)