Angry Robot

downshift

shift goes under. Hopefully not for the last time. What a shame.

6 comments on "downshift"

  1. marijke says:

    *cries*

    no, really….. *cries*

  2. College Street shithead hipster says:

    I dunno, shift was pretty shit for the most part. All the relaunches and new editorial strategies they tried couldn’t mask the fact that they were always lacking good writing and their gee-whizz approach to pop-cult nonsense and new media stuff always left me cold. Also, anything even remotely associated with that smug fuck/King Hack Evan Solomon ought to be ignored and discredited on principle.

  3. mageebags says:

    As a “contributing editor”, I’m obviously biased, but with that said, shut the fuck up, College St. Shithead.

    I’m the first to admit that for many years (mostly while under Ego Evan), Shift lacked quality writing. However, the art direction was always innovative and compelling, and as a magazine it took many chances in terms of stories covered.

    But ever since Neil Morton took over the reins, the mag has put a strong emphasis on top-notch writing (best epitomized by Chris Turner’s always-excellent essays). Morton’s tenure turned Shift into one of the *very* few Canadian mags that published challenging and non-traditional articles.

    But even if you don’t agree with my assessment of the mag, simply writing off the work of dozens of people over many years just because you don’t like Evan (and for the record, I think he’s a pompous, untalented ass), a guy who’s had next to nothing to do with Shift since 1998, is pretty boneheaded.

    Tell you what — once you’ve put out a mag for ten years, you can feel free to sound off all you like. Until then, silence.

  4. marijke says:

    well said, mageebags. couldn’t have said it better myself.

    you forgot “fool” at the end, though.

    “Until then, silence, fool.”

  5. D says:

    I have my suspicions that that was a devil’s advocate-style post. It still made me angry, though. (One-day boycott of College street!) Other than that, I agree with bags. (Except for the “silence if you’ve never published a magazine” argument – that reminds me of the guy who told me that until I make a $200-million space opera, I’m not allowed to criticize Lucas.)

    1. Shift was not gee-whiz about media. They flirted with Luddism at times.

    2. no good writing – come on. See bags’ post.

    3. guilty-by-association with Solomon – this is where diabolical advocacy seems to give itself away.

    I can’t believe I’m talking about shift in the past tense. What a shame. Was it not the case that their move into the US failed only because Behaviour ran out of money? I really don’t believe that a tech-is-cool early-fashion-adopter magazine can’t make money in this day and age, and I am really surprised to hear they’re gone. Awful.

    What will happen to the site? Will someone archive it please?

  6. mageebags says:

    Yeah, the “you can’t complain about something unless you’ve done something similar” argument is a little silly. Point taken.

    As for the site, I’m not sure about the current one, but the old site (from back in the Behaviour days) is archived here:

    http://www1.barnabymarshall.com:1001/shift/core.html

Comments are closed.