And once you bring the bottom line into the equation, you have to ask —  what took them so long?

Well, according to this  NYTimes article the day has finally arrived. I.D.G. (International Data Group), the largest publisher of technology newspapers and magazines has declared that their online ad revenue has finally surpassed their print revenue.

“The excellent thing, and good news, for publishers is that there is life after print — in fact, a better life after print,” said Patrick J. McGovern, the founder and chairman of I.D.G.

And Stewart Alsop, a journalist turned venture capitalist, was the editor in chief of InfoWorld in the 1990s, when it was thick with ads and its editorial staff was at its peak. “Technology publishing just happens to be at the point of this whole transformation of media,” Mr. Alsop said. “What’s happening at I.D.G. is a fairly accurate map for every other publishing organization. Get over it, it’s going to happen.”