This would explain why the parts about defying categorization are followed by pages and pages of charts, percentages, and decimal points categorizing their readers. Too bad publishers don't make their magazines as interesting as their math. Granted, I'm no numbers whiz, but publishers' stats seem impossibly off. Meanwhile, Spin readers are buying 7.5 CDs a month . Magazines are for consumers, not readers.
Marketers constantly survey, poll, and interview readers to see how much they're consuming.
Lifestyle magazines such as Details, Paper, and Wired recruit readers to serve as marketing consultants, answering questions for the magazine's advertisers in exchange for free goods and other perks. Once they've collected the data, magazines compile and transform it into something that proves how influential they are. They set trends and cut edges. They're the first to try new products and encourage their friends to do the same. Perhaps more importantly, Interview readers help draw the map for those that follow.