I'll jump in here. I work in an university library and have seen the internet grow almost imcomprehensively in the last 10 years. While desktop access of journal articles has mushroomed, the need for paper copies has not really diminished at all. Part of this might be due to the need for historical reference (remember this is an academic library) and that need might not apply to the recreational magazine reader. Our periodicals become part of our permanent collection, and electronic access isn't guaranteed forever as the publisher might go out of business or get bought out, a magazine might fold or become obsolete due to a variety of reasons. Once you buy a paper copy, it can last for a very long time given reasonable care. Access from a publishers database is dependant upon that publisher staying in business. A computer virus or hard drive failure can wipe out your entire downloaded collection in a lot less time than it takes to read this.
One format that is being pushed lately is downloading a magazine volume electronically. Some computer news magazines have gone to this format. The magazine is displayed on the screen just like the paper edition, similar to an e-book. I find these magazines, and the e-books, harder to read than a paper copy even with a good monitor, and portability is limited. That opinion is shared among many of the professors I've talked to. Neat idea maybe, but the computer technology isn't up to it yet. But even among the ones that do like the delivery means, there is a consensus that the page layout, just like the paper copies, is important to readability. So the editors and copy people should enjoy continued employment for some time to come. And the average reader will still want to see the authors pen new articles. Just like NASCAR, many have their favorite author/driver and will continue to cheer for them, even when they aren't writing anything they don't already know.
