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Comment by mcv | Hacker News Reader

I can fully understand publishing the January issue in late December, or even half December (though that's already pushing it).

But right now it's still November. Next week it'll still be November. At what point does the month associated with the issue stop meaning anything? Will we get the Winter issue in the summer?

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I've been saying the same thing for a long time.

I love how US car manufacturers bring out the "next year" model half way through the current year.

The best example I've ever seen is in Q1 2014 Jeep will be bringing out the 2015 Grand Cherokee.

I'm looking forward to mid 2018 when I can buy the 2020 edition :)

There may be a tax-savings angle to that. Some states, like Nevada and Massachusetts, charge vehicle property tax based on the year of the car and buying a car "one year ahead" can result in a reduced rate for that year compared to same-year tax rate. That might short-term make leasing cheaper. I only noticed it in passing when I leased a vehicle there.

I think it makes sense for publications that get a significant chunk of sales from magazine stands as they will appear "fresh" longer that way. Not sure what the breakdown of sales for Consumer Reports is like but I'd assume they're subscription heavy.

Additionally, magazines are typically published with the date they should be removed from the newsstand, not the date they should be sold. This is different from newspapers which typically publish with the date they are first available.

Side-Note: this is why the current issue of Time, which is a magazine, will have a cover date a few days in the future while The Economist, which considers itself a weekly newspaper not a magazine, will have a cover date of the previous Tuesday.

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