Now Microsoft wants to sell what it can't give away. Don't expect circulation to skyrocket. Slate will always be a Microsoft product. The world's biggest software company may spend a mint attracting writers, but they can't risk losing money by going out on either the right or left limb. They're condemned to using sharp writers with no points.
Slate is an in-flight magazine for intellectuals.
No one on the outside knows the answer. Most thinkmags have a hard time making ends meet. Even the most popular ones often seek help from foundations or wealthy donors to survive. Such publications don't exist to reach a mass audience or great profits. Instead, they seek to influence the right people and change the course of history.