Since I started blogging, my relationship with the many magazines in my life has become a lot more complicated. Sometimes I’ll finish reading one with the thought that I could find much better content, perhaps even presentation, online whereas other publications inspire admiration bordering on envy. Blogs and magazines are different animals, this is true, but not so unalike that they don’t merit comparison. All media shares certain qualities beneath the surface. These two happen to strongly resemble each other when viewed at the proper angle.
The angle I’m admiring right now is the paperless magazine. I recently discovered the adventure travel magazine Wend. The urban-minded adventurer in me cleaves naturally to this particular brand of content. However, as a web publisher, I’m more impressed with the amazing interface of the new paperless edition of the magazine.
Too often, paperless editions of paper media are clumsy pdf files dolled up to resemble something other than a graceless pile of pages. Content devoid of design misses the glossy magazine experience entirely. That’s why the Virtual Paper presentation of Wend Magazine is so amazing. The entire magazine is there, apart from the distracting subscription inserts, in a convenient web format. The sleek design, the vivid ads, even the comforting sound of pages turning have been preserved. In fact, with hotlinks and the possibility of other web-based functions, the experience is actually enhanced. All that’s missing is a pound of paper destined for the landfill.
The paperless magazine has arrived. True, a decent magazine reader hasn’t been released yet, but the more important concept has been proven… it may have been proven years ago for all I know. This seems like good news for magazines and consumers alike; it’s also good news for blogs or blog communities. After all, we’ve got content in buckets. We’re swimming in it. If printing isn’t an issue and distribution is managed through existing web paradigms, it has become that much easier to extend that content into the magazine sphere. True, there are tiny issues like editing, design, technology, and of course, ad sales to contend with. Apparently, magazine publishing demands a lot more than just a computer, thesaurus, and coffee machine. But I have seen the future of paperless magazines and it is beautiful. Can the inevitable I and the Bird magazine be that far off?
I think devices like the Kindle are going to be the salvation of the magazine. I still enjoy the experience of holding the glossy pages, turning them and feeling them. It’s important to the experience for me. But, I can see a time when it won’t be as important . . . when books and magazines are on a machine and somehow still satisfying. That will be a good day! 🙂 And, as for an i and the bird magazine . . . bring it on!
I’m with Liza on the “feeling it in my hands” thing, but I’d sacrifice that for saving the paper and having the ability to print just the articles I want to take with me on a road trip, to the gym, etc. if desired.
Interestingly, anyone can build a magazine using the service that Wend is using: http://www.myvirtualpaper.com I noticed that my company published their annual report there and included video on some pages. Very cool.
Mike, don’t tell me you’re not already working on the IatB magazine!? At least the concept?
Come on, be honest with us, be honest.
In my opinion, paper and electronic publications have separate strengths and weaknesses. Both pdf publishing and Wend’s format suffer from trying to preserve artificial page divisions. If I am reading something online (or via other electronic devices), I would rather have the complete text of an article on a single page.
I agree that having something portable will be ideal, which is why a dedicated magazine reader is needed. The Kindle has its benefits, but black and white just isn’t going to cut it.
John, I kind of like magazine-style formatting. Design is such a huge component of the reading experience. Plus, you’ve got to take care of your advertisers!
Jochen, I’m not going to say I haven’t considered the idea…
Hey Mike:
Thanks for the nice words about the digital edition. It’s our mission here at Wend to put our money where our mouth is, and beyond the digital, we’ve been working like hell to get as much carbon out of our print edition as we can. It took a little while, and a pretty sunstantial amount of research (we bullt models for this) but we’ve settled on 30% recycled, 70% FSC certified sustainable wood and grass. It’s a tough call there, but I’m hoping the Forest Stewardship Council has the ability to sustainably harvest EVERY bit of wood, as the membership grows.
Part of the equation with paper is getting from sources produced in your region, and printing close to home (there are a lot of mags that print on recycled paper, but they print in Asia and then ship the thousands of pounds of them over here on a plane which is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.) I think we’re about as green as humanly possible as our paper is produced 35 miles from where we print, in Salem, Oregon. And the raw materials come from this region as well. The only part we can’t fix, is mailing it to each subscriber, but that’s where the digital comes in….