Posts Tagged ‘magazines’

Mobile experimentation continues in the legacy publishing industry. From the early days of the way too expensive per issue in iPad magazine apps to the current movement of paper subscribers getting electronic magazines and newspapers as part of the bundle, we’ve seen a number of attempts to draw iPad and desktop users to paid electronic publications. Conde Nast is going to a tried-and-true technique of giving away something small to interest people in their paid product. The app (for iPhone and iPad) is:

Goings On: The New Yorker

It provides information about New York City events, interesting places and restaurants. Interactive maps can help you find anything interesting that pops up out of the app. Here’s a list of the app’s features:

-Listings: Browse extensive listings by category (movies, art, night life, music, dance, readings), and see our recommendations.
-Filter listings by date and location (see what’s nearby).
-Restaurant reviews from the magazine’s Tables for Two column.
-Venue information: Interactive maps show you event and restaurant locations, and we tell you what else is going on there, with comprehensive listings for theatres and galleries.
-My New York: New Yorker writers point you toward some of their favorite New York places, from Susan Orlean on the Temple of Dendur to Sasha Frere-Jones on Secret Robot Project.
-Audio Tours: Calvin Trillin takes you to his favorite restaurants in and around Chinatown; our art critic, Peter Schjeldahl, escorts you around the Frick Collection; our architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, strolls the High Line with you.
-@TNYGOINGSON: Events updates and cultural news from the editors of Goings On About Town, via Twitter.
-On the Horizon: Early word of upcoming events you’ll want to plan for.
-My Favorites: Save event listings and recommendations to your own favorites file.
-Share listings and recommendations with your friends via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare.

Via MacRumors: Conde Nast Launches Free ‘Goings On Around Town’ App

I don’t travel much anymore. But, there was a time in my life when this was not the case. I still remember one week when every dinner I ate was while in the air. And, while experiences like that make for somewhat entertaining stories, I do not miss those days at all. What I do sometimes miss, however, is pulling out the in-flight magazine during those long minutes of take-off or landing when all electronics must be turned off.

So, I was pleased and amused to learn that the combined United and Continental Airlines in-flight magazine is available as a free iPad app.

Hemispheres

The app looks like a replica of the paper magazine on the surface. However, it has a few interactive tricks that traditional magazine publishers should take a look at. Navigation, for example, is excellent with simple page turning indicators and a table of contents that slides out from the left whenever you want it. There’s an orange “links” indicator at the top left of pages that takes you to web pages related to items on that page. And, there are expanded photo and video content for some articles. Some photos have a Ken Burns-like pan and zoom-out quasi animation effect. A mini-review for a book about battery technology even includes a chapter excerpt. Turning the app to landscape viewing mode reveals a cover different from the one in portrait mode. And, the landscape viewing mode displays two pages at a time while one page is displayed in portrait mode.

All of these small touches add up to a quality e-magazine reading experience that is better than what I’ve seen in most of the conventional e-periodicals I’ve read on my iPad. Ironically, this app version of Hemispheres magazine cannot be read during take off and landings as the paper version can.

Conde Nast Digital was among the iPad magazine app pioneers. It is not secret that I was disappointed with their first attempt to put WIRED magazine in an iPad app or that that I was disappointed with their most recent attempt.

Wired for iPad May Issue Free. Content is Great. App Navigation is Still a Nightmare, However

However, I want to make it clear that I want Conde Nast and every other legacy magazine and newspaper publisher to figure out how to move from paper to bits and suceed in the 21st century. So, in that spirit, I was disappointed to read this in Ad Age.

Conde Nast Taps Brakes on Churning Out iPad Editions for All Its Magazines

Ad Age quotes a Conde Nast publisher as saying: They’re not all doing all that well, so why rush to get them all on there? If this pullback is truly one for retooling and rethinking strategy, it is a smart move.

When I looked at e-publications in Apple’s 200 top graossing apps last Friday, Wired Magazine sat at a respectable position 141 in the list.

14 Newspaper, Magazine & Comic Book Apps in iPad Top 200 Grossing List. But, Where’s TIME, Newsweek & National Geographic

Just a few hours after I published my blog item, I learned that Wired’s May 2011 issue was available for free in their iPad app.

Wired’s Newest iPad Issue Boasts Its Best Feature Yet: Free (via All Things Digital)

I had not looked at Wired for the iPad since purchasing its initial e-issue. As a fan of Wired’s print publication, I enjoyed the content as usual but hated the way the app worked so much that I never bought another e-issue. However, free is a good price. So, I downloaded the mammoth 380MB issue and took another look at Wired a year later.

As expected, Wired’s May 2011 issue’s contents are a great read. Here’s the title of one article that provides great research and commentary about one of my pet peeves: The Champagne of Office Supplies: What’s Inside Inkjet Cartridges. The article’s on-screen navigation, however, is as horrifying as the price of ink jet cartridges and serves as an example of what is wrong with Wired’s e-publication. I’ve grayed the section of the page with the instructions Swipe to read about more ingredients. Swiping the middle of the page where the ink cartridge is and, where I believe, most people would swipe results in nothing. Swiping the two-headed arrow icon above the text instructions results in nothing too. So, what do you swipe? I’ve grayed over the area where the actual article text is visible. This, it turns out, is in the equivalent (or perhaps actually is) an iFrame. You need to swipe this tiny portion of the screen to read the rest of the article.

There are lots of odd navigation design choices in this issue too. Swiping some article right-to-left to move to the next page results in a vertical page movement. Some full-page advertisements won’t let you swipe out of it at all. You need to tap the bottom of the display to bring up the issue scrubber to escape from the ad.

As a fan of Wired, I am very disappointed to say that I won’t be buying the next paid June iPad issue. If they have another free issue in 2012, I’ll take a look again then. Perhaps they will fix their navigation problems in the next year.

The effort to move newspapers and magazines out of the paperbound 19th and 20th centuries into the 21st century fascinates me. It fascintes me because I they were important and should survive to continue to contribute to our culture and record our history. So, how are they doing on the iPad? I took a look at Apple’s list of the Top Grossing iPad Apps as of the wee hours of April 15, 2011 and found these e-publication apps in the top 200. I added in comic book apps into the mix too

11. The Daily
17. New York Post
26. People Magazine
33. Comics (comiXology multiple brands)
42. Marvel Comics (comiXology)
57. DC Comics
64. Popular Science
89. Popular Photography
110. Martha Stewart Living
141. Wired Magazine
150. New Yorker
166. Vanity Fair
171. Bloomberg Businessweek
180. New York Daily News

Although it dropped out of the top 10, The Daily continues to be the top grossing iPad e-publication app. Its slick look, interesting content and reasonable subscription price probably have a lot to do with its success. comiXology owns the comic book space. All three comic book apps in the top 200 list are branded varients of comiXology’s comic book reading and purchasing engine. The only two technology related magazines in the top grossing apps are Popular Science and Wired.

It is also interesting to note the e-publication apps that are nowhere to be seen in the top 200 apps: TIME magazine? Newsweek? National Geographic?

Bloomberg Businessweek has launched their iPad app called Bloomberg Businessweek+, and it is the first app from a major publisher to use Apple’s in-app purchases for subscriptions. In addition to Businessweek’s respected content, I think what Bloomberg is charging for subscriptions makes it one of the more attractive of the magazine offerrings on the iPad. People who subscribe to the print edition can get the digital versions for free, while non-print subscribers pay $2.99 for a monthly subscription that gets you four digital issues of the magazine.
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