The Magazine-on-an-iPod Experience
By Andrew Jackson, Executive Director, December 21 2010
Ok, I’m probably not an early adopter in the handheld computer market. Some of you probably already have an iPad or another tablet device. But I may be among the first of our members to actually read a magazine I subscribe to on an iPod.
The magazine is The Economist, a text-heavy weekly, likely best suited to a small-format device. Magazines with more graphical and photographic presentations are likely to work better in a larger format such as the iPad.
The occasion was an overnight at our rustic (read, no electricity) camp in northern Vermont on close to the shortest day (longest night) of the year. My paper Economist had not yet arrived, so before leaving the comfort of our home WiFi, I logged into my iPod Economist app (free to print subscribers) and downloaded it. The download took about a minute.
After firing up the wood stoves and getting the camp warm it was already getting dark. Reading there is possible but not comfy by the light of a couple of flickering gas lights, but the iPod provides its own light—much easier to read.
The Economist‘s app is well designed, first offering you the current issue’s cover, with past issues receding into the distance behind it (If they’ve been downloaded, you can select a past issue to read.) Tapping on the cover takes you to a main menu of the major sections of the magazine, The Americas, Asia, Europe, Technology, etc., and tapping on any of these offers up a menu of the articles in that section, each of which can be read, including its accompanying photos or charts, by tapping on its title.
I have always enjoyed reading print magazines. I like being able to read them wherever I am, even lying in bed. Web sites, even on very light folding computers, have never been satisfying in this way. But an iPod is so portable, with good battery life, good color display and contrast, plus easily adjustable type size, that reading in bed is actually easier than handling a somewhat floppy paper magazine. Whether something bigger such as an iPad will be as comfortable, remains to be seen, at least by me. And did I mention that every article in The Economist is also available in audio, also free to subscribers, just by tapping the earphones icon on the app’s screen?
In my opinion, this points the way to the future for magazines. Magazines aren’t going away, but paper will gradually give way to electronic devices as delivery media. My guess is that The Economist’s strategic plan is to keep enhancing its iPod/iPad apps and eventually begin offering subscribers a choice between paper and electronic formats, probably at the same price. Currently all subscribers get the print edition and can download their apps for free.
As publishers, if we fail to study our options and learn as much and as quickly as we can about tablet and handheld media, we will do so at our peril.
Comments:
Very interesting, Andy. Thanks for your thoughts! And happy holidays? Jane
By Jane Nahirny on Dec 22, 2010
Update:
A story this week’s Economist on Rupert Murdoch’s new tablet (ipad) only newspaper, The Daily, it noted that, “In the absence of a means to sell subscriptions through [Apple’s] app store, publications from People magazine to The Economist to News Corporation’s Wall Street Journal have deployed their own systems for controlling access. Some sell single issues while allowing free access to people who already pay for the paper or web product (“existing print subscribers click here”). In effect, they are using the iPad as a delivery system for content paid for outside Apple’s ecosystem. That means Apple does not take a 30% cut of sales. More important, particularly for ad-dependent American publications, it means they can keep tabs on subscribers.
“This opportunity may be closing. In the past month Apple has advised at least two European publishers to stop bypassing its payment system. It is unclear whether, having set up a subscription system for the Daily, Apple will try to force publishers to use it. As Mr Murdoch acknowledged this week, Apple rules the tablet market. Publishers have come to wish it were not so.”
By Andrew Jackson on Feb 08, 2011
Yes, things continue to develop among the heavy hitters.
What’s more alarming than the shift from paper to screen is the deeper shift from “reading” as a pleasurable activity to “scanning/reading” as consuming tool (we don’t analyze what’s happening by reading many different sources, we consume the latest “feed”).
More and more what can be found in the media has a HUGE “what’s in it for me” mentality. Perhaps it always has. But the sheer pleasure of reading seems to be waning. Interesting to note that many comments I heard about THE DAILY was that is had poor writing. I would expect that the editors are more concerned with “being out with the story” than they are about being correct with the story and having a tight, concise piece. Go figure.
By Matt on Feb 10, 2011
I also subscribe to the Economist but find myself consuming it in Print, Online (the website) and in particular via iTunes—the Audio Edition. Reading the Economist on an iPod/iPhone is not a compelling experience. The audio edition is fantastic and also available for free to subscribers.
By Mark Pratt on Feb 10, 2011
Thanks for this. I’m glad to know about your user experience!
By Tricia on Dec 22, 2010