Popular Mechanics

This magazine really has gone downhill and it's a shame. I first subscribed about 20 years ago, and there was decent information in there and some fun things to build. I subscribed again this past year, redeeming some airline miles for a year subscription, and it's not even worth that.The first issue I received had very short, maybe 1/4 page articles that touched on some of the basics of what they were talking about, but not much more than the bullet points of the topic. Gone are the in-depth analysis of yesteryear's issues and the magazine gone to the mainstream, dumbed down 'analysis,' if you could call it that.The main article of that first issue was something like 'how to drive without GPS.' It was about a 4-5 page article about not using the GPS in your car and actually using a map. Really, this is a place where readers of popular mechanics need help? If it is, then the magazine is probably lost forever.Gone are the days of fixing engines, building gadgets, and learning actually how things work. I'm sad to see that in an era of almost unlimited learning through the internet, Popular Mechanics has decided instead to write very basic articles that are probably also covered in Good Housekeeping.....Edit: Case in point, latest issue talked about how to cut your own hair, 3 different types of barbecue sauces you can make, and a holiday gift guide that's more apt for GQ as they recommended buying a $125 name brand flannel shirt. If you can get the subscription for free, there are usually 1-2 decent articles that may spark your curiosity to look up the topics online to find actual analysis. If you can't get it for free, save your money and just visit their website and avoid all the Good Housekeeping and GQ topics.

I cancelled the auto-renewal on my subscription after three issues. The magazine is full of thinly guised and sometimes overt product placements. The magazine doesn't even resemble what it used to be. It used to be a good read full of interesting articles.This week's article from the editor was titled, "My Anti-Wall Rant". The article was about how he had remodeled his house taking down many walls then having a party for neighbors and friends.In the article, he gives a call-out (read advertisement) for the company who did the work and the paint used to repaint the interior when it was finished. It appears as if the Editor used his position to obtain a deal on remodeling his house. If true, is this ethical?The magazine is very thin and articles are very basic and/or unrelated to Popular Mechanics, ("Sail with a Cool Couple", "Go Behind the Scenes on Hellboy").

I can't believe how little is in the magazines and how dumb it is. For instance - I got a survival issue. It said "make your own power, shelter, and grow your own food". Sounded interesting. So, "make your own power" ... it said to buy a generator. For "shelter", it said to buy a modular house. For "grow your own food", it said to make a garden (and buy a $1000 wheat mill). The rest of the article, supposedly about survival, is a rambling story of how the author doesn't have any survival skills and how his father put sprinklers on top of the house he built to help save it from a wildfire. A project in the magazine consisted of a "candy dispenser" that drops candy downward and through some pegs to land at the bottom. I remember when this magazine was good and had actual projects, like making radios.

i had forgotten how many advertisements are in magazines i could not even find my ole time favorite out of pop mechanics . I use to like the dept. inventions wanted,this was reason i got mag.could not find so u can notify publisher they can just throw my copy away would save them the postage and me the trouble of filling my trash I hate paying for advertisements if u could give a negative star I WOULD so save ure money don't buy.

Too much technology. This magazine needs to get back to basics. I've got the complete set of Popular Mechanics from the early 1900's through at least 1940. It was a great magazine about mechanical methods & concepts. It's turned into a 6th grade level Popular Science.

I hadn't picked up a popular mechanics magazine in 10-15 years, but on a whim (and what I thought to be an excellent lightning deal) subscribed through Amazon. Unfortunately it appears the intellect has gone downhill, and popular is now more synonymous with mediocrity. The magazine is riddled with articles that read like a GQ or sky-mall magazine... Im not sure who this magazine is intended to appeal to, but certainly it is not my cup of tea.

Miss the Popular Mechanics before it was (hipster) "popular" to be a mechanic.There's always something or another which is just interesting enough to keep the sub going, but it's notthe Popular Mechanics that made me who I am today.Unless you practice ritualistic grooming of your facial hair, before sipping some small batch whiskey andwearing $300 jeans to fix an old truck that you paid more for than a new one would cost, there's much less to read each month.Turns out that the ads are often more compelling than the content.

More ads than articles, and even the few articles are basically ads themselves.