Are Digital Editions the Real Thing?

I have a hunch this post is going to come off sounding defensive. Hopefully, you’re one of the readers who’ll read it with the objectivity in which it was intended.

Last week, Time Inc. released a digital edition special of People. Though this digital edition lacked many features found in NXTbooks, it wasn’t a bad book at all. In fact, it was kind of cool and received a mostly nice write-up in AdAge.

But not entirely nice. When asked about digital editions, Brad Adgate said a couple things, but closed with this:

"This could be a template for future initiatives or this could be something along the lines of New Coke."

To which we say, "Huh?"

New Coke lasted three months. At NXTbook Media, we’ve been doing digital editions since 2003. Every year, our circulation and revenues have skyrocketed. And while there are many reasons for this, the simplest is that – unlike New Coke, which came to market to replace Old Coke – a well crafted digital edition can serve as a tremendous addition to an existing print strategy. Whether it be special content or added sponsorship, the "risk" involved in creating a digital edition is zilch compared to what Coca-Cola went through in 1985.

Writer Nat Ives also wrote in the article that "People can’t claim to be first with a dynamic, soundtracked,
video-packed e-magazine; the Europeans are ahead of us on that front." That’s an interesting comment, too. While not designed for the consumer crowd, we’ve produced video-packed Source Guides for Streaming Media in both 2006 and 2007. 

Ah, the cutting edge. Sometimes, it’s a lonely place to be.