Tech magazine passages research

Audience

Tech magazines usually speak in a serious, matter-of-fact tone as opposed to other magazines, like science magazines, which might have a more fantastical tone. Additionally, tech magazines are most often written from a third-person point of view. It is usually some unbiased writer talking about things that other people have said and done, whereas other magazines may have someone who is an expert on the subject write the article from their POV.

Most magazines refrain from high vocabulary, technical wording so that they can appeal to a wider audience. Tech magazines are no different: they don't use heavy technical language and thoroughly explain complex topics so that anyone reading can understand it at a baseline level. This makes sense, as the more accessible a magazine can be to a wide audience of people, the more copies it can sell.

Excerpt analysis

Here are two quotes, one from Wired, a popular tech magazine, and one from Discover, a popular science magazine:

Black androids replicate the actions of human beings, especially in the performance of onerous chores. One notable example from Jones-Imhotep's research is Dederick's Steam Man of 1868. The head and torso of the android, which is powered by a steam engine, takes the form of a Black man pulling a cart, a replacement for a draft horse. In New York City, Jones-Imhotep says, Black androids like Dederick's Steam Man “clustered along Broadway, where they formed part of the culture of minstrelsy, blackface, and racist spectacle.”

- excerpt from "The History - and Disturbing Resurrection - of Black Androids" from Wired

In March, after years of analyzing and confirming data, astrophysicists reported that the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a detector buried at the south pole, had picked up an unusual signal in 2016. It suggested that a particle called an antineutrino had crossed space and time - originating far beyond our galaxy - before smashing into Antarctica and releasing a particle shower in the ice.

- excerpt from "Alien Antimater Crashes Into Earth" from Discover

Upon examination, the Wired excerpt is very descriptive and objectively talks about its subject: Black Androids. The excerpt also makes references to experts/researchers such as Jones-Imhotep instead of being written as if it was by an expert (the article was not written by Jones-Imhotep but by someone at Wired).

On the other hand, the excerpt from discovering conveys more wonder and looks more as if it was written by an expert as opposed to a layman author since they are able to describe the event in detail without making references to experts.

Sources

Heffernan, Virginia. “The History—and Disturbing Resurrection—of Black Androids.” Wired, 18 Feb. 2022, www.wired.com/story/history-disturbing-resurrection-black-androids.

Ornes, Stephen. “Alien Antimatter Crashes into Earth.” Discover Magazine, 21 Dec. 2021, www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/alien-antimatter-crashes-into-earth.