Reader's Digest

Anyone Remember Reader's Digest? Yep, that small booklet-sized magazine that adults read when i was a kid. I was never a big fan, but i had an uncle that collected it since the late sixties. Every time i visited his place, I'd pull one random copy out and read the funny columns like 'Laughter, The Best Medicine', 'Life's Like That', 'All In A Day's Work' and those humourous anecdotes and quotations they had at the end of the long, boring articles.

(image from wikipedia)


If you've read it, you'll probably identify a few things with it, like the annual sweepstakes they spam you with ("You may have already won something! This is the first step to your USD1million, watch out for the next! Scratch and see if you've won a year's free subscription!"), offer on those large encyclopedias or special dictionaries or first aid guide books people buy but never read, free watches / table clocks / diaries for renewing your subscription... and lots of articles to read when you've nothing else to do.

The articles are basically edited and concised from books and other magazine, usually politically correct, feel-good and middle of the road conservative, the kind that tries to please everyone.

One thing that is evident with Reader's Digest in recent years is that it is fast losing popularity here in Malaysia, and probably worldwide, although on Wikipedia, it says that RD is still the most widely circulated magazine in the US. I think in the age of Internet and connectivity, traditional print media is suffering this problem, just as in the case of newspapers.

Another thing that most people associate with RD is the spiralling price here in Malaysia. I remember charting the price since the 80's, i don't know how much it costs now, but judging from the RD website price, it'll be about RM12 per copy now.

You'd be hardpressed to find a newsstand that carries it nowadays, let alone someone who subscribes to it. Except my doctor, who leaves his copy in the waiting room...