He E-mailed her his proposal for a new kind of on-line magazine about culture and technology, and she signed on as co-founder.
Advertisers are also paying to have their logos displayed in on-line magazines.
So publishers are trying to figure out how to convince advertisers that on-line magazines can deliver the desired customers.
Most on-line magazines are careful to make a clear distinction between editorial and advertising material.
The marketing potential for on-line magazines is still unclear.
Much of this material did find its way into newspapers and, later, into on-line magazines.
Microsoft initially hired experienced journalists to produce a kind of on-line magazine and event guide.
It was revived as an on-line magazine in 2006.
Steven Johnson, 29, the group's third founder, is the editor in chief of Feed, an on-line magazine.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has found an old-fashioned way to get some income from its on-line magazine, Slate: sell paper copies.