Bravo to all contributors to The Smog #1! As maiden voyages go, I would say it was a smashing success. I think there are many improvements that can be made, but the premiere issue was much better than I expected -- and I expected it to be good! Great work by everyone involved.
Regarding the suggestions/criticism that most Smog content could easily just be site articles -- yes, they COULD be. But delivering content in that manner is not very exciting, innovative, or eventful. By issuing content on a periodic basis, bundled up in a "magazine issue" -- it builds anticipation and makes the release of the content a major event. THAT'S why The Smog is such a wonderful vehicle for the entire community. Yes, people could simply write articles and put them up on the site -- ho hum... The Smog is much more interesting than that. It also focuses the creation of the content. We could simply add a sticky to C&C and ask the general populace to "Please write some articles for the site" -- ho hum... By appointing a magazine staff and organizing around a publishing schedule, it make the entire effort a notable project.
If the information contained in The Smog has lasting relevance, we could perhaps add some key Smog articles to the Articles section of the site, or perhaps just link the articles rather than copy them. Maybe even just list a single "Smog Article Index" in the Articles section.