The iPad & the Age of the Magazine
March 9, 2010
I’m more excited about the iPad than I’ve ever been about a technology platform. Ever. That’s because I’ve been a magazine junkie since I was a kid. You see for me, the iPad means a revolution to the very medium I’ve used to stay abreast of almost everything that’s interested my whole life. And it’s going to get better in ways that I can’t yet imagine. But here’s a taste.
Millions of people love magazines. Magazines are familiar, comforting, exciting. They are the harbingers of pop culture in everything from music to fashion to news to science. I’ve always loved them.
I still do. I still subscribe to print magazines. And it isn’t just me. Print magazine sales have been increasing in recent years. I consume magazine content online too.
And while I do love the rich media experience that Internet magazines can give readers through embedded video and functionality, the 3rd dimension of interactivity, the z-axis that can allow readers to drill down and reveal extraordinary depths of information and content, is greatly enhanced with a touch screen device just like the iPad.
I’m a Gen-Xer. That means I grew with and without the Internet. I’m of the generation that straddles the broad line between not knowing what a PC was, and having one dominate my life. I’m still strongly attached to the print medium. I love flipping pages. I love the smell of physical books. I love the artifacts, the experience of holding a tangible object. There’s emotion in it. But I also love seeing and experiencing through interactive mediums and video. I’m a huge fan of documentary films, precisely because my imagination is most stimulated when I can get a sense of how things are, or what they might have been like, precisely because of the emotional charge I get from the experience of seeing and hearing things more directly. Most of us do.
And given that I think a lot about what magazines could be like—not just because I’m a consumer, but because its a goal for my business to be involved in their evolution—consider first my excitement in seeing this concept video, Mag+, put out by Bonnier R&D and BERG:
It suggests a beautiful, deeply intriguing, fluid experience. As the folks from BERG explain:
“The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up immersive stories.
“The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming.”
And then consider that the iPad was revealed only 2 months later:
The concept, and the enabling technology, are incredibly exciting. They are realities now.
I was excited at Christmas time to have tried the Amazon Kindle. I read the first several chapters of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book on the Kindle and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the experience. But that format seemingly doesn’t compare with what the iPad seems to do today.
I’m extremely keen to have the opportunity to read a magazine article on the iPad about my favourite band and in the midst of doing so, flick my finger as though I were turning the page and see archived concert footage or an interview all while having it be searchable, shareable, expandable, and indexable right in an intelligent, context sensitive touch screen. Incredible.
What is perhaps the most profound impact of all of this isn’t for the consumer themselves, but for magazine publishers. Why? Because I, and likely many, many others, would pay for content delivered like this.
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