Rupert Goodwins' Diary

Thursday 14/03/2002

It doesn't feel like it, but it is -- ZDNet UK's sixth birthday! A shame that two of our most dedicated partiers are stuck in Hannover for CeBIT, but the rest of us try and make up for their absence in a London Bridge wine bar.

It wasn't always a wine bar. Ten years ago it was an American-style restaurant, all giant burgers and rather anaemic pizzas, but it was very close to the original Ziff Davis offices and served as our unofficial canteen. So many plans, so much gossip, illicit affairs and general letting off of steam happened there: it's shot through with memories of PC Magazine and long-vanished comrades at keyboard.

Alas, poor Mag. Over in the US, the company that was once one of the biggest publishers in the US -- Ziff Davis Media -- just reported record losses for the last quarter and is within a whisker of not being able to pay the interest on its debts this month. Same story as last time, when it was kept afloat by a few million injected by its holding company, but analysts are dubious about its survival now that advertising revenue is down by nearly fifty percent. Meanwhile over here, PC Mag UK hasn't had an editor for a while and while its owner, VNU, is very profitable the company has a history of closing down titles to concentrate the market.

And as for us -- the plucky online crew sitting in Space Station ZDNet while below us the old empires change. Will we stay out of print forever? Watch this space...