Monocle magazine is great!

But first, some background story…

In September 2007, I lamented the demise of Business 2.0,  probably the favorite magazine of the business/technology tribe. Following this death, I went back to my old flame, Wired Magazine, whom I felt at the time had improved drastically since the dark 1999-2002 period.  Recently, I got tired (again) and canceled my subscription (again).

Back to Monocle. I had picked up issue 15 last July, the City issue, as the theme really appealed to a local media guy like me. I had enjoyed the read but I believed it was because of the subject matter. Fast forward to last week, I picked up issue 19, the 2009 Forecast/Predictions issue. Again, a topic that’s really attractive to a strategy guy like me. Since then, I’ve come to the conclusion that this magazine fits perfectly in today’s social/local zeitgeist.

Split between headings called “Affairs”, “Business”, “Culture”, “Design” and “Edits”, Monocle covers a variety of subject like sociology, anthropology, city trends, design/ideas/new technologies and politics. The mix of business and society creates a group of stories that’s very stimulating.  I would say the only thing missing is a larger dose of technology-oriented articles.  Business 2.0 was very good at covering bleeding edge tech business ideas. But I definitely recommend Monocle to everyone who liked reading our favorite business magazine.

BTW, if anyone needs more convincing arguments, Alain de Botton, currently the best young philosopher in the world, is a regular contributor. If you don’t know de Botton, you need to read “How Proust can change your life“, “The art of travel” and “Status anxiety“.