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
Well I wasn't gonna buy one, but they have the exclusive one legged golfer!
...Tiger Woods after the accident?
Sorry, too soon, huh?
@httph2rtnblogspotcom
Tiger Woods didn't die. He just cheated on his wife. Not sure what you heard.
@httph2rtnblogspotcom
I was just poking fun at 1:01. Believe me, I know that he's Manuel De Los Santos.
I'm sorry, I guess I forgot the part where tablet PCs didnt already exist, and that these dinosaurs could have had E-versions of their dead industry rags on them years ago.
And the cool thing is that all it would take is a regular Windows app thus avoiding the need to fricking make it for some imaginary locked-down Apple device!
Looks just like the "lid" of a MacBookPro
http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/overview-gallery3-20090828.png
o.O It's called a tablet and a website...and is much more useful.
Also, that hand reminds me of Monty Python...
Just wondering when Apple is going to unleash their patent on multi-touch. Perhaps that is their secret profit margin weapon.
If this is what the Apple tablet is gonna look like, I'm gonna be dissapointed. Can't Apple make their products do anything more than swipe and fade in/out pictures? All I've gotta say is Apple had better try to emulate or at least offer more functionality in the tablet than what their iPhone/Touch offers today - I'm obviously alluding to the functinoality of the Courier here - because otherwise, this looks like a flop.
@doboy
Look at the title again. Spare us the Strawman argument.
As for Apple products "swiping".... Just... Wow..
Look at 2:18 in the video. Its got Mac OS X scroll bars
@(Unverified) look about 10 post up and realize you're late.
I'll stick to paper magazines. If I wanted to watch short video clips, audio clips, and be subjected to animated advertising I'll go to the website.
Is this device only for Time Inc. related products? If so I'm out.
If it's a table/E-reader for a wide variety of things then wow.
@clos Oops just read the paragraph: "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"
That's great. The layout seems very intuitive. If this Apple tablet gets realized then wow to that.
i honestly think that is pretty sick. the kindle of magazines. and if it has video funtionality and wifi itd be damn sweet. then again might as well just be a tablet pc. still, i liked that interface in the demo.
Well, i'm sure of a couple of things.
This is the Apple Tablet. This is the same thing Wired was showed on.
i THINK that next, Rolling Stone will show off on it. Then Playboy. That will make the whole industry jump right in.
I would have to say, people overlook the problems of the netbook.
The screen is too small.
They are still to thick.
They have to 'fold'
They have no touchscreen.
So, i can just put this down on a table, and type ontop of it for some quick notes. This works well for my field work and for messaging.
Oh, and the screen is HUGE and i hold it closer to me than i can sit to a netbook.
Ultimately, if it is OLED (which i suspect due to the tremendous variety of white balance used for the page colors, go back and look, see if you agree) then this kills eReaders. I have been hoping OLED and it's infinite contrast would push out eReaders, i think we may have a winner here.
It's important to recognize that there are two distinct markets with potential--the Web and the speculative Tablet Editions. Distributing magazine content through the web represents the only established market. Everyone has a computer with a web browser. Eventually, as we enable personalized magazine experiences on the web, publishers will be able to monetize the web audience with user-targeted ads and eventually online subscription revenues. At Maggwire, we recently launched our Beta, and we are working to launch a 2nd Generation feature-rich platform. The vision is, the first time a user comes to Maggwire, they will go through an intuitive discovery process of the Channels (topics of interest) that they want to subscribe to. Each Channel provides articles from several titles. An intelligent algorithm learns what each user likes to read. A visual homepage uses preview images for every article. Eventually, like iTunes, if we make it painless to purchase content and create an immersive experience, people are willing to pay.
Tablet Editions will certainly appeal to some people. How big will that market be? Considering Tablet Editions are completely reliant on the adoption of Touch Tablets which aren't even "officially" in development, we have no clue. How heavy would an iTablet be? How long would the battery last? My iPhone gets me about 3 hrs of web browsing; imagine if the screen was 10 inches. How many people want to pay $1000 for this device when they could instead buy a laptop? How do you sell single articles of archives? Speculation aside, we know sleek and affordable touch tablets will eventually exist—and someday will even use Color E Ink. But there are still major concerns with this digital strategy for the magazine industry.
The theory of "push" vs. "pull" in journalism is a critical problem with the Tablet Edition approach. In print, publishers "push" a 100 pg. book to their users effectively telling the user what to read. With technology, users can now efficiently "pull" the content they want, simply by clicking on a headline directly. Publishers want their customers to flip pages primarily to deliver more advertisements. The page flip experience will not translate to hardware devices. Most people will feel frustrated that they paid $3 and they have to flip through 20 virtual pages to find an article worth reading.
Exciting times in publishing right, and I’m glad to see some efforts. Sign up for the release of our completely personalized magazine experience to be launched early next year! Maggwire.com (http://www.maggwire.com/).
Why work on some kind of PDF initiative for the tablet/netbook when at best, consumer adoption is 3-5 years away (assuming the hardware is a hit)
The browser is here today and everybody has a computer and uses the internet. So why not work on some kind of initiative that aims to deliver content through the web?
Does it really take a bunch of C-level executives to figure this out?
Making a non-hands on video of a device that has never been release? THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT!!!
I don't know about you guys but I am just getting sick of just seeing what nice tablet-like devices are going to look like. What about showing something that is actually more tangible than a digital dude pinching to zoom with TWO hands into a picture. I wonder though does this device come with all the sound effects when I flip on the pages. There so many sound effects I can even here the keyboard sounding like the the one I had back on the early 90's, yeah that's so cool. *yawn*
still dumb the no matter how many times you guys post about it
if this isn't the excuse ol mr. jobs was looking for to produce the apple tablet I don't know what is. Apple has the perfect digital distribution model, and selling this at a subsidized price after signing up for a certain number of subscriptions, or cell service or something would be just what the print industry needs.
I'm suprised at the amount of Ludditism and negativity that I am seeing here on Engadget with respect to this demo. The user experience depicted is all sorts of awesome. This would make the reading experience come alive.
Of course to really win the day, the mythical tablet will need to be mult-function not just a fancy book / magazine reader.
The existing microsoft tablet computers are being ignored. The publishing industry dreams and yearns for a mythical device to suit them all. It is whispered, Apple will save us.
Very similar to the Conde Nast/Wired video:
http://www.alltabletnews.com/2009/11/22/new-tablet-concept-video-for-wired-magazine/
I think a lot of people are missing the point of digital magazines being released on a tablet. Yes theoretically this could be a be webpage, but I don't think the web browser would work as fluid.
I think the point is, that it would be a lot more convenient to carry around a slim and sleek tablet like device, without a keyboard, and have the ability to download digital magazines, and view them later where there is no wifi or network available. It would be optimized for the the specific OS and hardware, which would allow it to run buttery smooth. Also comics on a slim tablet device would be real sweet.
This a type of device I would use mostly while on a plane, waiting at the barber shop or taking a crap. Have you ever tried to balance a laptop on your legs while taking a crap? It's a not easy. I think it would be great to have my Car & Driver, Motortrend, GameInformer, & CigarAficionado magazines in one slim, sexy device. Being able to download the latest issues from the web instead of waiting in the mail is another plus for me as well.
It's not gonna be a tablet, but a keyboard!!!
multitouch, with more mouse pointers!
A Dutch company Ziber, who's making webdesign software was testing it with his online software!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pfLQtWDCpE
What the e-book industry needs is a killer device, like the iPod was for mp3 players. The iPod was what moved people away from CDs. Content like this digital Sports Illustrated, combined with a sleek, trendy device (aka not the Kindle) with color and touchscreen, and we may well witness a huge surge in popularity of e-reader devices, e-book purchases, and e-mag subscriptions. And with the success of their revolutionary iPod and iPhone, who better to build that killer device than Apple?
I wonder what the battery life on a tablet like this would be. This thing looks amazing but I can't imagine a full color tablet so large being able to retain charge for very long :/
@DrEngrish yeah because nobody has ever made a laptop that was thinner than one inch and had reasonable battery life. /s
There's no doubt in my mind that THIS is the Apple Tablet. Did I miss anyone above mention that?
It's so obvious.
There's ZERO chance that TIME can successfully market this to the public by themselves. The equipment and the interface is way to expensive and refined for even a billion dollar company to invest in for something they may only sell a couple million of. Frankly, if Google can't make their interface as smooth and organic as Apple, I'm certain no one at Time or Wonderfactory is writing the code to make this device.
My guess: Apple invited Time to create some content and Wonderfactory built the actual demo with Apple's developer kit. We will see this in the market in less that 4 months for $699 or less.
@oxjox That's a pleasant thought, but very doubtful. I don't think Apple would let Time leak video marketing material of their product before they had a chance to announce it.
Cool, but will I carry this thing around? I like print. Having something on the iPhone would be cool. I like the idea of kooaba, which basically allows you to get digital content on your iPhone for print pages. They had a trial with Wired.
http://www.kooaba.com/for-businesses/interactive-print/
Considering the economy is going to get a lot worse once they start raising interest rates, I will stick with my paper mags. I can burn them in my fire, and use them as toilet paper when times get rough.
can you just use real hands an the real product?
I'm sure there are people who will pay subscription prices for digital magazines. I, however, will not. I'm also sure that there will be sites popping up that will allow people to view the same content, perhaps without all the bells and whistles, for free. I'll tell you this. If Apple tries to sell me a shiny new overpriced tablet that has subscriptions attached to it that are free on other machines, I'll stick to windows 7, even though I would prefer the Apple Tablet. Keep this in mind Apple. people will not be lining up to be ripped off for what is now free content. If you want to sell us a tablet, make it under $600-$700, include cellular service and a reliable bluetooth headPHONE and/or headSET so we can ditch our iphones, and don't try to charge us for stuff we already get for free. We won't stand for it. You will lose customers. I want a light, preferably expandable, apple tablet with a nice sized screed that I can take anywhere to watch movies and view content, but i sure as hell will not pay more to view online magazines, nor will I pay another overpriced ATT bill. When the tablet comes in, the cellphone goes on ebay, so it best work as a cellphone if you want my business, otherwise I'm gonna be buying one of those new phones that has a full Windows OS attached to it, as much as it breaks my heart to do so.
@Griffin
Why would you want to carry a tablet around with you everywhere when all you need is a small phone?
If it has any streaming service (wi-fi works for me), I hope it is a one time fee for the life of the equipment.
www.zinio.com
Here are the plain digital magazines, and while it is easier to flip through them at the library, I can see using a color OLED tablet in the future. This would be great for college books as well. I'm holding off buying a new laptop to see what comes out actually. I just hope that this mythical tablet will be powerful enough, allow blue tooth keyboard and mouse, has the full Mac OS X, good photo color rendering, has a graphics card that can output 1080p, and won't get scratched easily. Is that too much to ask ;) ?
As for magazines, I like the concept of getting properly investigated news stories and carrying one tablet instead of 5 magazines through the airport would be better. The journalists do need to make money in order to do the reporting and provide the information that gets passed around and discussed on the internet.
Am I the only one missing the "plans future anger about 70/30 profit split" part in the article?
Check out iGizmo - www.igizmo.co.uk and
http://fullsignal.phones4u.co.uk
They've been publishing digital mags similar to the Time demo for a while. Great user interface.