If you thought MacUser getting absorbed by MacWorld was an indication of the Mac's further decline into obscurity, well, to a certain degree, you're absolutely right. And if you saw the recent announcement that MacWEEK's print edition will be changing its name to eMedia Weekly to reflect its coverage of Windows as well as the Mac, you probably thought that was another sign of flagging Mac market share-- and again, you'd be right. But the thing is, it's not just Mac magazines that are shutting down. According to CNET, Byte magazine is closing its doors after 23 years.

CNET's interpretation of this shutdown is that Byte is the latest print magazine to get hit by declining ad revenue, as more and more advertising dollars go towards internet banner ads and other electronic marketing systems. In a business as fast-paced as the computer industry, it's not surprising that print magazines are finding it harder and harder to compete with online publications; given that magazine issues are often prepared months before they hit the newsstands, it's increasingly common that they are filled with incorrect information by the time anyone gets to read them. The web has no such time lag, being an instant-gratification publishing method. Plus, web sites are usually free to readers instead of five bucks a copy, and the publishing costs are minuscule compared to those of putting out a real dead-tree publication, we bet.

So the thing to remember is, there are several factors that led to the demise of MacUser and the changing of MacWEEK, not just sagging Mac market share. Then again, there's also the conspiracy theory approach to the latest news, which involves linking Byte's admission that Power Macs are faster than Pentium II systems to their sudden shutdown. Suppose Intel pulled a few strings to keep them quiet?