From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, Omni published dispatches from the world of science and some of the most iconic science fiction stories of the late twentieth century, including William Gibson’s “Johnny Mnemonic” (May 1981), Ted Chiang’s “Tower of Babylon” (November 1990), and Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made Out of Meat” (April 1991). The print magazine folded in 1995 — though an internet version lasted somewhat longer — but scanned selections from it have been circulating for some time. Now, as of earlier this fall, the Internet Archive has a near-complete run of Omni, free for download or viewing online. Even if you’ve already read the articles or fiction elsewhere, that means you can see it in the original format, complete with gorgeous illustrations or amusingly dated New Yorker-style cartoons. The Best of Omni collections in the set are a good place to start; if you’d like a better idea of what you’re getting with each issue, check out the separate Complete Omni Index.
Read the full run of ‘Omni’ magazine at the Internet Archive
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
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