Depending on Who You Talk To, the WIRED iPad App is 50% Awful, 50% Brilliant, or Vice Versa

One thing about the magazine industry: compared to the auto industry our concept videos come to market quicker, for better or for worse.

After releasing their concept video of what they hoped to do on the iPad, WIRED Magazine came to market this week with their digital issue at $4.95 for interested parties. Not surprising when you’re hoping to change the world/re-invent the wheel/split the atom/insert favorite analogy here, reviews were mixed.

Because we’re in the magazine industry, let’s focus first on what Harry McCracken had to say. McCracken found himself dazzled by the technology allowing the pages to seamless morph from portrait to landscape mode. He referred to it as "an origami-like challenge that makes my head hurt just thinking about it." (Keep this line in mind, because we’ll come back to it in a bit.)

That being said, McCracken isn’t sold on the design, which seems to mimic that we’ve seen from Bonnier. He said, "Navigation seems needlessly complicated: You swipe from left to right to jump from story to story, and swipe down to move through multi-page stories. But the up-and-down part doesn’t have any discernible benefit:
It’s not always always obvious whether a story has multiple pages, so it’s not clear which direction you should swipe. And if there’s any way to tell the app “Give me the next page of the magazine, whether it’s another page in this story, the next story, or an ad,” I cant figure it out."

So there’s that.

But then there’s Michael Turro, who commented on another blog (which we’ll get to in a minute) that, "it’s got a kind of warmth and readability that I find satisfying."

So you’ve got two respected magazine design professionals, one of whom can read it and one of whom can’t.

But what about the "origami-like challenge," McCracken referred to? After all, making a magazine morph depending on how the device is held is a big deal, right? Well, not when you just create two different layouts and call up whichever one you need, which is exactly what WIRED did*. Imagine that: WIRED Magazine has three layouts this month: print, iPad horizontal and iPad vertical. Somewhere, there’s a designer showing up late for dessert.

The blog that revealed what WIRED did was much more of a technology review and for the most part, didn’t really argue about whether the design works for readers. What the writer did say was that the technology used to create WIRED this way resulted in a single issue of the magazine that’s 500 megabytes. That’s right: half a gig. In other words, if a user happened to subscribe to four magazines and they were all built the same way, they’d blow out a low-end iPad’s memory in eight months. Somehow, that doesn’t sound very scalable to me: The original iPod could hold thousands of songs, but the original iPad (which some have hailed as the future of digital magazine reading) holds little more than my bedstand?

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Michael Turro made many copious comments on the blog in an effort to explain what makes magazines unique and why some of those unique qualities inevitably complicate the finished product. And while I agree with him 100%, the comments that being special doesn’t justify being half a gig have merit, too.

So where does that leave us? From reading what McCracken, Turro, and Gilkison have posted, here are some random conclusions. You may have different ones and feel free to share:

1) At least it’s real. Kudos to WIRED for putting something out there. Moving away from a concept to product is a big deal.

2) The technology and design elements must work better together so that a good digital magazine isn’t a huge digital magazine. People won’t put up with 500 megabyte magazines very long. It would be like discussing putting a computer in your house back when they were as big as a room. It’s impractical.

3) Until the technology improves, you may need additional designers or you may need to outsource design work to play on all of these screens. At Nxtbook, we’ve been reflowing and redesigning some titles for some time. We’re good at it and we’d love to do it for you.

4) When the dust settles, this will still be a niche experience. The fact that Harry and Michael can’t agree on whether or not this is readable tells me something: they’re both right. We learned long ago that digital magazines weren’t for everyone and there’s no reason the next generation will be, either. And that’s ok. As a publisher, your goal is the same: put the content your readers want in their hands in the way they want it. But we’re in a world where how they want it is becoming more fractured and unique.

*Please note: The technical review of the iPad WIRED app has PG-13 language. I’m posting the link anyway because I believe in the value of the content. If you’re offended by such things, please either don’t click or accept our apologies.

No Brakes? No Problem.

Question: Who said, "The best way to watch a race is through the rear view mirror?"

Answer:  I have no idea.

Anyone on Nxtbook Media’s tricycle team – Nxtbook Flash – could have said it today, though, as they surpassed all competition in this year’s United Way Tricycle Race.  Our blue and green tricycle is not outfitted with brakes, and these guys proved why: it’s either go fast, or go home.

Definitely Not A Flippy Book

If you’re operating under the misconception that e-Catalogs are simply pages with pretty product pictures, it’s time to rethink your battle plan.

Come to the webinar, "Flipping Over Digital Catalogs," hosted by Multichannel Merchant and sponsored by Nxtbook Media.  Join us at 2:00 pm (eastern time) as publishers Wayne Gale of Stoke Seeds and John Cortez of Shaklee tell their stories of successes with e-Catalogs.  In the struggle for consumers’ attention and sales, it’s essential to be armed with ideas that work.

Click here to see a Stoke Seeds catalog for yourself. 

Click here to see a Shaklee catalog. 

Click here to register.

A Barely Relevant But Highly Interesting Post

Longtime readers of the Nxtblog know we’re big fans of the Magtastic Blogsplosion and here’s a great reason why: Andrew’s recent review of the Feltron Annual Report, which is one person’s way of looking at the past year of their life in infographic form. Very very entertaining.

 

You Really Need to Enter This…

We may have covered this a few weeks ago, but it’s worth repeating. If you’re a digital publisher, why not enter the Brand New Digital Magazine Awards. Started by a publisher in the UK, we can’t tell you much other than Nxtbook customer super-start Peter Houston is on the judging panel. Trust us when we tell you Peter knows a thing or two about digital magazines. Send in your entry today!

iPadXL Beefed Up to Offer Flash

Apple finally realized they needed to let Flash onto the iPad and found a great solution for overcoming the battery drain required by Flash Apps. The solution comes to them via Honda.

Says Steve Jobs, "This is the world’s quietest combustion engine — only 96 decibels. The revolutionary iPad XL gives you all the magic of iPad, and makes it possible to run the flashiest and most tasteless Flash sites on earth.”

(joke, but cute!)

Calling All FOLIO Fans!

Calling all Folio fans!  Thought you missed your chance for registration?  Well fear not: Nxtbook Media would like to officially invite you to attend the 2010 Folio Show as our VIP guests.  With our promotional code, you can save $125 off a full conference pass OR register for an exhibit hall pass absolutely free.  Come check out our booth (#100) and the e-Reader lab (by the cyber cafe) and see what the Nxtbook Syndicator is cooking up for your digital content.  (Meet the Syndicator here.)

To register: go to www.folioshow.com

Promotional code: SEVIP10

 

 

Soon, Even if You Don’t Have a Mac, There Will Be an App for That…

Very interesting announcement this week, as Google makes plans to open a store for Web apps, sold (or given) through a web-based App store hooked into their Chrome browser.

Though it will be several months until we know the true implications of this, there are some important facts that can’t be ignored:

1) We’re talking web-based apps here. Much like the approach recommended by Nxtbook, these web apps will much more replicate how most users (aside from iPhone users) consume content. Delivered through browser plug-ins, this will be a more natural experience.

2) This will be a ubiquitous experience. You can have the coolest iPhone app in the world, but those who don’t have an iPhone will never see it. These web-apps, however, will be delivered via Google’s web and mobile browsers, which currently have approximately eight times the traffic that the iPhone does.

3) Google doesn’t care about Flash, but that’s a much healthier attitude than Apple’s obvious hatred. Apple could be right and HTML5 could be the future, but the present is very much Flash. By allowing Flash content, Google’s providing users with the Web the way it works now.

4) You’re a grown-up, for crying out loud. Steve Jobs should be commended for keeping despicable content off the iPhone, but should he keep political cartoonists from being there, too? As a publisher, you should be able to put your content out there and let the market choose whether or not it wants to consume it.

Interesting prediction: This columnist reminds us how the Apple computer had the early lead on the PC before Jobs’ controlling tendencies caused them to ultimately lose and he speculates the same thing might be happening here.

Crazy Like a Fox

If you missed our recent webinar with FOLIO magazine, you missed one of most unique strategy stories I’ve seen in some time.

In the webinar, Terry O’Hanlon talked about the fact that he has a website and a digital magazine which are for complementary but not – identical – brands. He used to have a website for the magazine brand until he realized two simple things:

a. His two websites were competing against each other

b. His digital magazine was competing with his website of the same brand

His solution? He shut down his brand’s website. The result? Readers’ attention is no longer split and he’s got a more consistent story for advertisers. Terry and I recently talked about this idea and while his enthusiasm is contagious, I wonder if any other publishers would be so bold. Granted, having the other website serves as Terry’s ace in the hole, but the point remains: many publishers struggle with the same issues Terry did. Maybe the answer isn’t having more property, but having less.

 Terry’s got some great ideas on how to push his brand even further and we hope to share them with you in the coming months.

App-Licable

We’ve had some clients asking how to make sure their projects appear on the forthcoming Nxtbook Media iPhone/iPad app. The simple – and free! – answer is this:

Get your book on our Nxtstand. The Nxtstand is our free newsstand where you can promote your digital magazine. Just ask your Account Manager how to get on it and we’ll put you there super quick. And…. when our app launches, these publishers will be first in line (assuming their iPhone/iPad version have been enabled, which your Account Manager can also help you with).

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