You know that Condé Nast
tablet / digital magazine demo we saw recently (non-ironically paging through a copy of
Wired)? Well now Time Inc. has gotten in on the same game, showing off
its version of a digimag running a touch-friendly issue of
Sports Illustrated. The company not only buzzed everyone with the charming walkthough video -- a floating hand paging through
SI on a sleek, black tablet (embedded after the break) -- but also had a live, functioning variation of the product up and running on a touchscreen HP laptop. The gist of the project seems to be that the publisher will be able to offer this digitized version of its magazines in some sort of agnostic format, one that would be accessible to PCs and phantom
Apple tablets alike. Peter Kafka over at
All Things D says that he had a chance to play with the demo and it was, "quite a bit of fun." While it's clear that both Time and Condé Nast are taking parallel routes to online publishing (the former is purely in concept mode, the latter is working with Adobe on digital versions of its titles as we speak), one thing is painfully clear: both companies have shockingly similar ideas about what the future of magazine publishing looks like. We hope Apple has been informed.
posted December 2nd 2009 6:09PM
Quit it with the "Apple Tablet" bullcrap already!
@dcoaster But yes, that device does look pretty interesting.
@dcoaster Well did you notice at 2:17 the scroll bar looks EXACTLY like that on Mac OSX. So you can just pipe down and let us keep dreaming!
@Andrem720 And dream we shall my friend, dream we shall.
Y'now, I used to be of the mind that a tablet type device would be great for magazines. But these concepts are all just attempts to recreate the same experience as a paper magazine. Do we really need it? We have websites that deliver content much better than magazines do. They'll have to come up with something that innovates the magazine experience rather than just recreating it.
Well, I didn't look at the video til now. I guess some of what they're doing is trying to change the experience. But the core experience for most magazines is reading articles and looking at pictures, which can be done on websites just as well.
Why doesn't SI make their website look like this tablet concept? Apart from the touch interface, wouldn't that be possible? Instead of coming up with tech demos for devices that don't exist and will be too expensive to gain mass marketshare, they should try to deliver a better online experience for their website.
@Brendan H
yeah but the thing is for reading websites you need a "bulky" pc/notebook even netbooks aint that sleek like this type of device. if they manage to make it right then you can read your local news and your fav. engadget blog at the same time. how convenient would that be? crazy convenient...i will just feel sorry for the paperboy
@theswiss
I'm not sure I understand what your point is. You say that web browsers require a netbook and this tablet hardware would be more convenient, but this is a software demo, not a hardware one. Why not make this hardware and put a freaking web browser on it? Hell, put Chrome OS on there and you're done, no goofy magazine reader software required.
@Brendan H
Chefgon and theswiss, I think you are both wrong. It will be somewhere between the two. Rich, software-based apps that rely on themselves as equally as they rely on the cloud. The browser is not an efficient enough medium to provide these kinds of experiences.
@Brendan H
This is definitely interesting. Sometimes I wonder why magazine publishers never really embraced the internet in its revolutionary ability to deliver content. All the stuff seen in this video can be accomplished in HTML specially with HTML5 (something Google is trying to push forward).
I think the answer lies in advertising. Magazine publishers have been hesitant to embrace the web, because they can't justify their high ad rates in their print. In an industry with 50-70% of their revenue coming from advertising, I am not surprised that they are sticking with a prepackaged pdf magazine for tablets and netbooks.
Having said all of this, I recently read about a magazine website called Maggwire (link below) from LifeHacker. What they are trying to is pretty interesting and I hope they succeed.
http://maggwire.com/
@Brendan H
I agree that websites can have the same functionality, especially if you have a computer with a touchscreen. I think the main benefit would be downloading an entire issue and then not worrying about your connection speed when it comes to video and stuff.
That, too, I suppose is accomplish-able through a web interface, but you'd need some sort of special software to download and "play" this month's "edition" of a website.
Yawn... Porn mags will be the make or breaks of this
@BowelMovement Yeah because porn can't be gotten any other way. I get sick of the logic that Porn makes or breaks a technology. The reason Porn made VHS succeed was that Betamax refused to license to the porn industry and the alternative for porn movies was to go to a theater with a bunch of other guys in trenchcoats. Obviously a version to watch in the privacy of your own home was far more desirable than the alternative, and pushed VHS over the edge in the format war.
However in modern times, if people can't consume their porn magazines on this gizmo, they will just pop open a browser on their laptop. It is no longer a matter of accessibility.
@RandomGuy
I doubt people using this will be using a laptop at the same time. Otherwise they would just use the laptop to browse the Newspapers website as well making this thing useless.
The printed porn media economic need for such a device matches or exceeds the news media.
@RandomGuy
I liked the crowds...
"There is no Apple Tablet"
"Blasphemy!" *grabs holy water*
But we all must agree that the Prophet iPhone, was a savior of all. Unless you believe in that The Da WinMo Code bullcrap.
@PATRICKmcnicholl True, although it did have some evidence.
I'm holding out to get that copy of Androids and Demons.
Why is Engadget so enamored with the idea of an Apple tablet? If you want a tablet computer, there are dozens to choose from, go fucking buy one for christs sake.
i like it ... if the device just looks like that then i'll line for it
@theswiss even if it costs $799?
@theswiss
If it's anything like 2:27 to 2:36 in the youtube video I'm in!
When will these companies learn that tablet computers need stylus support to be useful? Okay, sure, I guess that reading a magazine doesn't need a stylus, but when one of these tablets does finally take off it's going to be one based around pen input, so why waste your time building prototype software around the theory that tablets will be giant iPhones?
@Chefgon
So... why should it have a stylus again?
@Chefgon
Stylus is great for precision work, creative work, and being expressive. Touching is good for basic interaction.
There is room for both. Hopefully, upcoming tablets implement stylus support to become creative products, instead of products designed strictly for CONSUMPTION of media.
@Chefgon I haven't seen a tablet yet, which doesn't include a stylus..
How is this any different from a well designed webpage? (or atleast where webpages are eventually going toward)
Serious, what is the difference here? Seems that pretty much all that stuff - embedded video, text, charts - could be done in Flash or InDesign or similar tool. And the only major difference is that it is being displayed on a tablet or touchscreen.
I also don't see how magazines who are bitching and complaining about going out of business and high costs, are now going to be able to afford to handle even more demanding media, like embedded video? It's one thing to edit a photo for publication - it's a whole other thing to edit video and sound.
@Hazdaz
I know what you're saying - especially now. The difference mainly being is the gesture-based interaction systems.
@Hazdaz I think that's the idea. Taking the best principals of a magazine–high design aesthetics, typography and layout–and combining it with the best of the web–real-time updates, search and deep interactivity. All of these publishers have some kind of content management system for both their magazines and their websites. If they build this using open HTML5 and CSS standards, they will be able to repurpose onto ANY device–iPhone, TabletMac, or otherwise–straight from their magazine/web production pipeline.
In terms of the form-factor, it's perfect. It's tactile like a magazine, but responsive like a website. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to site outside reading on one of these rather than a laptop.
The hardware manufacturers just need to solve the colour screen/no back light issue for motion video.
@Hazdaz Engadget readers never cease to amaze me with their total ignorance towards the tech industry. For such intelligent readers I can't understand why you don't seem to understand what it is that people really want and where the industry is headed. You need to step outside the box and your own setup and realize what most people are working with to see why a device like this will totally change the face of "printed" media. I know this journey of exploration will be hard, if not impossible, for most of you but at least try and keep up with me here.
Most of you STILL can't understand why the iPhone has been so popular and how it changed the mobile phone industry (hell, a lot of you still deny even that much is true) and that's what makes this so difficult to explain. You don't quite understand that 99% of users out there are NOT "savvy" users. You can't remember what it's like to not know this stuff like the back of your hand so it's impossible to realize why average Joe doesn't want 10 different ways to accomplish something. He doesn't like tweaking and he doesn't want options. He just wants it to work, and work the same way every. single. time. Yes a touchscreen computer with a browser CAN accomplish everything they just showed in that demo. Duh, that goes without saying. But a computer with a browser also has viruses, spyware, adware, scareware, constant updates, etc... A computer with a browser might not have a fast enough processor to handle high definition video. A computer with a browser might not be running the right browser to properly display the content that's been created. Your average laptop only lasts (realistically) about 2-3 hours on a charge. A computer has a task bar on the bottom, with programs always trying to get your attention. AVG wants to run a scan, windows has updates, Java wants to update... All of this distracts from the experience the publishers want to provide.
And that's what this all comes down to. The "experience". They're not just providing some text and pictures. People won't pay for text and pictures they can scour the internet for them self. They need a device that JUST does and shows what they want it to do and show. They need to know that the high def video they include will run perfectly smooth and exactly how they intended. They need to know exactly how the touch interface will work so they can perfectly design the experience around that. I know the majority of you guys don't believe that the hardware and software has to be designed together to offer the best possible experience but that's what it comes down to. When developers know EXACTLY what they're developing for they can create FAR "better" content. They can take the device to the extreme because they know it will be able to handle it every single time.
@Hazdaz So is . So is . So are iTunes LPs.
Web technologies can definitely make this kind of experience possible…it's just that the publishing industry has thought that the web had to be something with less form, style, and substance.
@kohlmannj I meant to say, "So is the HTML 5 canvas tag. So is the HTML 5 video tag." Oops.
@anothernerd
I have no idea where you are getting the idea that anyone wants an overly complicated UI. You are replying to someone that has always fought FOR the simplicity of console-gaming versus the never-ending upgrade race that is involved with PC gaming. I have never liked technology for technology's sake if the "old way" of doing things is better. So I am not sure where you are coming from on this when I for one, agree with some of the things you posted.
@Hazdaz I apologize if that read like a personal attack. That was more or less a commentary on the typical Engadget reader. Your original post led me to believe you might fall in that camp.
@anothernerd
I understand you are arguing for a dedicated magazine reader. If am in error, ignore my rant.
I well realize that people want computer devices that just work and do things well. Thats what I look for in my belongings too. However, the bottom line is what you are looking at is still, in essence, a webpage..it's same as an e-magazine. I assume you agree with that. It is an interactive display that shows information. All you need to do this isn't a "magazine reader", its any computer with a touchscreen. Heck, its any computer, unless people are going to be so blown away by the fact they can touch it. I know it may sound like what the iphone naysayers said, but that was different. People hated their phones, and convergence has been the future since Star Trek. This is different. This is an industry that is dying because people get their news for free online.
Print media isn't dying because it needs a touch screen, its dying because it sucks, and some movies won't change that. Information is free, online, aggregrated and well commented upon. So what will an e-magazine be, a monthly interactive webpage? Daily updated? It's the same as the internet. And would someone buy a tablet/reader just for this? I doubt it. An emagazine is a peripheral bonus, its not an item seller.
I'm sure this item has a market among some people who really really like magazines or hate using the computer. Heck, I would probably get e-magazines on my iphone. But a dedicated reader? No way. It will be like the Kindle. Used by a few, the hardcore, and the elderly. But not by the masses. It has a problem, and that is it is only good for ONE thing. And I would say books, as general item have a more passionate following than magazines. And that passion is what you need to sell a dedicated reader.
Now, I may have misunderstood you and replied to the wrong argument. I am not saying there is no market for e-magazines. Like I said, I would get them on my iphone, or on my tablet, or on my computer. It would be easier than browsing the internet. But I would not buy a dedicated reader to read a few magazines. The reader would have to do more, a lot more. E-books, movies, games, music, sync wirelessly to my computer so I can read all my documents. No keyboard is fine, I wouldn;t type. It would have to hold all my information that I need to read, not just sports illustrated, national geographic and a newspaper. I would buy a product that could do what I described. But if it can only do one thing, like the Kindle, its a non starter.
This is what I believe Apple is working on. A somewhat cheap touchscreen tablet (maybe in the 200-400 dollar range) that has a soul purpose of offering digital magazines and newspapers. You could go onto a itunes like "News Stand Store" and buy subscriptions for magazines and newspapers. All those newspapers could work like podcasts, and you could download what you want and don't want, and unsubscribe at any time. And they would all be interactive like what was in the video.
The fact that multiple companies have come out with similar concepts about digital magazines mean that there very well may be something going on behind the scenes.
This is the future people!
@zman
yup, if you buy an apple product, you're giving them your soul!
sorry, I couldn't help but build on your typo homonym.
mmm Mac OS X scrollbars as 2:18
@Cyzor Ha! Good eye's.
@Cyzor
and the apple bookmark and search logos on the keyboard
@Cyzor
Unfortunately the little 'X' to close the window at 2:10 is on the right hand side.
That said, I remain hopeful.
Umbungo, Umbungo, they drink it in the jungle
@Chuck Dugan Holy shit, I completely forgot about that. Thanks!
I want it, and I want it now.
Let's hope this doesn't end up like the Crunchpad tablet.
LMAO - at 2:10 he says "The Eagles aren't doing to bad" --- but the headline is about one of their players beating up his girlfriend.
I think that's it's along the right lines. Taking the best principals of a magazine–high design aesthetics, typography and layout–and combining it with the best of the web–real-time updates, search and deep interactivity.
All of these publishers have some kind of content management system for both their magazines and their websites. If they build this using open HTML5 and CSS standards, they will be able to build a platform to repurpose that onto ANY device–iPhone, TabletMac, or otherwise–straight from their magazine/web production pipeline.
In terms of the form-factor, it's perfect. It's tactile like a magazine, but responsive to change like a website. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to sit outside reading on one of these, rather than a laptop.
The hardware manufacturers just need to solve the colour screen/no back-light issue for motion video.
Does anybody think that a CrunchPad (R.I.P.) would be much better with features like this?
@when2k
But the Crunch Pad would have used a Unicorn's horn as a stylus
I'm sorry, I have no idea what this thing does. I just couldn't stop staring at those freaky hands in the video. Those things are just downright nightmare-inducing. Holy Crap.