Vale Computer Weekly

I didn’t want to let the working day end without a quick post to acknowledge the news that RBI – my employer – is in the process of concluding a sale of Computer Weekly and Microscope to TechTarget.

Obviously, there’s not a huge amount I can say about this at the moment, as the sale process is still in progress, but there are a couple of things I’d like to mention. The first is that I’m surprised that so many people are surprised by the proposed closure of the print products with the sale. RBI itself has followed this path in the past, and given the size of the magazines these days, focusing and investing in the online business seems like the right strategy for the new owners, especially in the computer trade…

Also, there have been a number of tweets of this nature in the past 12 hours or so:

Update: I feel the need to clarify after an accusation of corporate mealy-mouth syndrome. RBI is a radically different company to the one I joined in 1997, and even the one it was when I moved into editorial development in 2006. I truly believe that this evolution is a good thing – it has become the sort of company that can survive the rapidly changing times for the publishing business we’re in right now. If I didn’t think the ship was steering the right way, I’d have jumped overboard a long time ago…