After using, building, and writing about digital magazines extensively, the conceptual definition of a digital magazine is less clear to me than ever. I have been pondering this issue for a couple of weeks, looking at the various forms of online publishing that call themselves “magazines” – and there is huge diversity. The one thing I am almost sure about now, is that print magazines have something so unique that there is no chance they will be extinct in the next few years. Yes, many titles will go out of print, but as a medium they are just too tangible, too accessible, and provide too great of an experience for demand to completely disappear. Just as online can do stuff that print can’t, the reverse is also true.
Although I read 99% of my news online, I love the rare opportunity I have to sit and read a magazine. And as time goes on, the more I value that experience. I’ve spent some enjoyable Saturday mornings reading Wired UK, Intelligent Life, BusinessWeek or Wallpaper in the last month, and I don’t think that pleasure will go away. So, with all this in mind, it was with interest that I saw Time Inc’s demo of their new tablet-based magazine.
Yes, it looks quite slick. Yes, it adds interactive elements (and the addition of tweets etc is nice). Yes, I would probably use it sometimes, for certain types of content. No, I don’t think it meets the modern demands for content that is realtime, social, and personal/unpackaged. And no, I probably wouldn’t pay for it.
For me, and it’s only a sample size of one, the main reasons for reading print, is that it is not a screen, its not interactive, and its a completely sit-back experience – I don’t feel I should keep clicking, searching, browsing for more. For me, my behaviour online is very different to print. I am only a click away from my emails, from searching the authors’ biographies, from sharing the article via Twitter etc etc. All awesome stuff. But I like to get away from that now and again. Otherwise it just becomes work. With print, no one disturbs me. Any additional research or background searching must be done at another time! And yes, I’ve just realised I sound like an old fart. So I’ll stop.
Digital magazines have a huge role to play in publishing. But as my art teacher used to remark on my reports, “More Work Needed.”
