Filed under: Features, Odds and ends
Where's the iMag store?
You know, at first I wasn't so impressed with the iPad, but the more I thought about the ways in which you can use it, the more excited I got. As a piece of leisure technology - something you just have laying around your living room like a newspaper - it's a lot more user friendly than a laptop or an iPhone.
However, I don't think the iPad is revolutionary. By now we're well familiar with multi-touch devices and apps stores. And let's face it, ebooks are nothing new. The iBooks app isn't going to be breaking any ground, but you know what would? An iMag store.
Sure, there're sites like emagazines.com that offer browser-based magazines, but there's no one universal storefront for emagazines that's easy to use. Even Zinio doesn't make the emagazine buying experience as easy or pleasurable as buy a song from the iTunes store. Can you imaging what an iMag app might be like? Bjørn Rybakken, creative director at Tangram Design, an Oslo based design agency, sent me these mock-ups (and you guys know how I love mock-ups) which got me thinking what the iMag store might be like.
Now, before someone stops me and says "But the Kindle does magazines..." It does, but not how magazines should be done. In my first journalism class we learned of how in the early part of the 20th century (I think the year was 1913, but can't be sure – sorry professor), the editors at National Geographic were putting the finishing touches on an issue that was a day away from going to press when they discovered that they came up short in the articles department that month. In a last-ditch attempt to fill the space the editor-in-chief decided to publish eleven full-page photographs a journalist had sent him. Before that issue, National Geographic (like all magazines of the day) had been what we would consider a journal – a lot of text articles with few photographs. When the issue hit newsstands, the editor-in-chief was sure the publishers would fire him. They didn't. That issue turned out to be their best-selling issue since the publication started in 1888. People loved the photos and since then, National Geographic has become synonymous with iconic photography and every other magazine in the world has used photography as a way to enhance and highlight their pages. Magazines aren't like books. Magazines rely heavily on photography, charts, sidebars, page-bleeds, and even cartoons. E-ink readers like the Kindle just can't give you the magazine experience that a full-color display can.
An iMag store could allow you to find and purchase magazines from all over the world, in any language. You could search by title, subject, or even author (a cool search feature because most authors write articles for many magazines). Indie magazine publishers would also now have a wider distribution network - and a chance at a wider audience. The magazines could feature videos in the articles, live polls, and even integrated chat rooms discussing the current article.
iMag store pricing? Yearly magazine subscriptions for $9.99. Single issues for 99 cents. There's been countless times I would have liked to buy a magazine I don't normally read off the newsstand, but the $4.99 cover price kept me from doing so. However, if I could get that same magazine for 99 cents instantly in electronic form, I'd buy it in a heartbeat – especially if they were all as slick as this.
Existing emagazine sites charge between $9.99 and $34.99 per title for an annual magazine subscription. I think most publishers would agree to a $9.99 price through an iPad iMag store if they could supplement the lower pricing with revenue generated from in-page dynamic advertising (it's 2015 and you decide to peruse a 2014 issue of MacWorld: the ads in the iMag MacWorld magazine have updated to advertise the current 2015 iCar) – especially if the forecasts are correct that there will be 12 million iPads in homes across the world by the end of 2011. Not to mention 12 million potential iPad customers is a hell of a way to get their subscription rates up.
But the best thing about an iPad iMag store? No more of those annoying magazine subscription cards falling all over your lap.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Andre said 8:08AM on 2-01-2010
The best online magazine I've seen is iMotor in the UK.
The interface is simple, has turning pages like a real mag, pages contain videos and very interactive content. There are ads on some of the pages that are not unpleasant at all.
The best part is it is completely free - paid for by the advertising I assume.
I'm not sure why I would pay for magazines when I can get content like this for free. And it should be free if there's advertising in it.
Unfortunately for iPad, this magazine uses Flash, but I'm sure a clever programmer could do it in HTML5 as well.
Here's their latest issue:
http://issue.imotormag.co.uk/car-news-car-reviews-cool-cars-car-videos/1X4b505529adda6012.cde
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JJ said 9:52AM on 2-01-2010
Take a look at http://www.paarsmagazine.nl and http://www.healthmagazine.nl
building them for 3 years now, working on html5 versions as we speak ;-)
Dan Woods said 4:15PM on 2-02-2010
You couldn't justify paying for it when it is available for free?
Look at the situation from the publishers PoV; They may not justify giving it away when they can get payment for it.
That said, most of the Sticker price on most magazines go towards printing the magazine; The Articles, Photography and Page Layout are all funded by Advertising. The Sticker price covers the physical object (and logistics). There are exceptions, but many Magazines could be supplied for free, in the same way as many Apps can be supplied for free.
John Atkinson said 8:10AM on 2-01-2010
I agree, iPad's full color gui, touchscreen and multimedia capabilities could change the game for magazines online.
I'd bet we'll see something like this within a year.
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TrendGiveAfuck said 8:16AM on 2-01-2010
"has turning pages like a real mag" which is one of the most horrifying metaphors in computer GUIs today! On a computer display you don't need that metaphor when you can have an unlimited length of a page and can scroll (or flick) to any desired location in the entire book, like in a PDF! I was disappointed that the iPad has the same control.
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Jens said 8:25AM on 2-01-2010
100% agreed. During the whole presentation I was waiting for this. If they do this right, they will have something really cool.
David said 8:31AM on 2-01-2010
I'm sure the guys at Infinity Loop are already working on this. Surely it would use the Paid-for podcast mechanism? You'd 'subscribe' to the magazine and when each new issue becomes available your iPad automatically downloads it.
Imagine - you pick your iPad up off the coffee table, unlock it, and the iBooks app has a badge over it's icon indicating that there are 2 new magazines for you to read.
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samin said 8:37AM on 2-01-2010
Well, there IS a GQ app/issue in App Store already. It's a very nice, mag-like experience even on an iPhone. I see no reason why that wouldn't become more common with magazines. And then there's the browser-based magazines too.
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Shaun said 8:48AM on 2-01-2010
I'd suggest that http://issuu.com/ have got the online magazine thing mostly right.
The problem with these kinds of things though is they simply take the paper magazine and try to put it online as-is with very few changes (embedded video maybe and clickable links). They're just technological crutches for old print designers who haven't updated their skills for the web.
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azxplorer said 8:40AM on 2-01-2010
I agree that the iPad has great potential in regards to all kinds of media consumption. I think the idea of a iMag store is flawed though. I think a better route would be for each magazine to publish through their own custom developed App. Each magazine could then establish their own way of presenting their content. I think if they all go through one storefront that would implicitly restrict them into the same presentation style and technique.
Though, honestly I could be mistaken.
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darth_nazgul said 8:42AM on 2-01-2010
So now you can purchase condoms straight from your iPad?
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Arthur Smith said 10:29AM on 2-01-2010
A great idea in itself, but one of the best things about *this* store is how much more in line with the modern Apple b&m store than those stuffy 'wooden' shelves from the 'classic' iBook store. Apple should re-think the look, or at the very least allow user the choice of this much cleaner modern look.
Hope someone at Infinite Loop can sort this out in 60 days.
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Brian said 5:16PM on 2-01-2010
I'd like to see 'themes' in the preferences. I'd view mine as simple panels/thumbnails like Events in iPhoto, but some people might want metal shelves vs wooden shelves. There are all kinds of things that could be done with this.
Ashley Allen said 8:45AM on 2-01-2010
This is all good and everything but I don't see what the selling point eMags have over a good website?
"Video in articles" - yeah, the web already does that (I know about the flash issue, come on HTML5!)
large photos - Yeah web can do that too.
New issues automatically downloaded - full of news you read on websites a month earlier.
I don't think eMags are going to be big with a browser on the device.
Though I do think once enough of these get out there Web Designers are going to seriously take the iPad in to consideration when making new sites.
Now Digital Comics/Graphic Novels. I could see that being a growth area.
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Edicius said 4:50PM on 2-01-2010
Well, the big difference would be that they would all be available for viewing offline.
perrot said 8:51AM on 2-01-2010
Completely agreed! I was hoping to see something about magazines or newspapers in the iPad unveiling. I think it would be a great addition, and would make me a lot more inclined to buy one. Right now my decision depends on iBooks being available in Canada, and textbooks being added to iBooks.
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Floris said 8:50AM on 2-01-2010
No e-Ink = no good reader.
Come on people! Everyone is so excited about this but it will burn your eyes at a 100x rate. LCD's are not suited for long periods of reading. I really don't understand why Apple presents this as a good reading device. Everyone is complaining they can't read books on their computer screen... and now Apple comes with a gadget with the same screen technology... and now it is good? Gotta love the fanboys.
My iPhone is good enough for everything else.
I will wait for color e-Ink displays and books without Apple DRM.
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azxplorer said 9:13AM on 2-01-2010
I disagree.
I've owned a Kindle 2 from the day they came out and I prefer reading on a 'lit' LCD. My eyes get more strained trying to read on the kindle when the ambient lighting isn't exactly perfect.
To each their own.
Frank said 9:15AM on 2-01-2010
@Floris -- come on, the whole line that "LCDs are not suited for long periods of reading" is ridiculous. people read for long periods of time on LCD screens every day. i love eInk technology as much as the next geek, but vibrant color is where it's at.
NutMac said 3:28PM on 2-01-2010
@Floris, you are right about e-inks being a better technology for books, but most magazines are in color and color e-ink technology are not ready for prime time (due to cost, display quality, and/or stability issues). Perhaps some are perfectly satisfied reading magazines in black and white Kindle screen, but if I am paying money for magazine, I want to see photos in color. Anyway, until ePub standard evolves to better suit media-rich contents, or Apple creates its own magazine standard, I don't see iMagazine happening.