I've watched ID become increasingly shallow in recent years, and have actually mourned its passing for quite a while now. I was doing some research a while ago in back issues from the 50s through the 80s or so, back when it was called Industrial Design Magazine, and was struck by the depth of the articles and the coverage of authentic industrial design. Since the 90s, ID seems to have moved increasingly to a position of a fashion magazine--covering what's flashy, providing visual snacks without substance, striving to be the first to crown the next design "star."

I have missed the depth of writers like George Nelson and Ralph Caplan in its pages. Writers of that caliber are covering design today--just not in the pages of a design magazine. Thoughtful discussions about design have moved to Fast Company, to Malcom Gladwell's columns in the New Yorker, to the various blogs, and like places. Maybe that's not a bad thing, since we've longed to have the principles of good design disseminated to a wider audience.

I urge anyone who's interested to find the nearest design school with a good library and scan through the old issues of Industrial Design in its heyday. The articles are excellent, and still relevant today.