Aren't the men that read GQ supposed to be a little more manly, comfortable with who they are, and actually *not* scared of appearing gay?
Seriously, if you even think of stuff like this and are not a complete homophobe or over 75, you might have some problems with your own concept of manhood.
Sorry to burst your gay bubble and throw some reality in your face.
I was one of the 365, and the comment I left on the APPsite was :
"Not very good for small (iPHONE) screen and would be much better if available as download for desktop/MacBook use".
Of course, at the time of release, the iPAD wasn't yet known. Bearing in mind the rather blunt comment of Hussinger, when he said : "this costs us nothing extra, no printing or postage, everything is profit", there's no reason why the price couldn't be brought down a bit (much !) more...
I'm pretty sure he's somehow posting from an alternate universe where even the laws of physics describing the locally observable phenomena are different.
Actually, most magazine readers no longer differentiate where they get their information from. The advertising and editorial are of equal service to them. This is especially true for fashion and lifestyle magazines. The days of church/state separation between advertising and editorial are basically gone.
Legally (postal rules) a magazine must be at least 20% editorial to be mailed under periodical postage regulations. Most magazines maximize their ad/edit ratio in order to maximize profits and the expense of paper and distribution. Subscription income hardly covers the basic overhead. My assumption is that only advertisers who pay are going into the digital version, and they are replicating only the parts of the magazine for which they have digital rights. So no matter how you slice it, the digital version will never be the same content as the print. That's why they need to reinvent the entire experience.
The fact is that editorial departments are not set up to provide continuous digital content, especially rich media experiences. Creating a monthly event digitally will be a problem for any magazine which goes onto the iPad. This is why the majority of success lays in opinion and news formats.
Interesting post. I'm not sure what to think of readers not differentiating between ad/edit content, but at face value it highlights a shift I hadn't realised was now a fait accompli.
Do check this out if you haven't already. I am intrigued by it. Some reviews aren't so good and the prices aren't mind-blowingly fantastic, but hey, it's a start for the iPad.
Absolutely! I downloaded this specifically to use on my iPad even before I had it. So far I've only got one subscription... Surfer Magazine at $9.99 a year. I used to subscribe to it a long time ago but just got to the point I was being overrun with all of them (and many others too). It's great. Easy to read, all the pages in the print version and the pictures are awesome on the screen. It came with some sample magazines and there's an issue of National Geographic and the photography is stunning. I'll probably end up subscribing to it too. So far I'm really liking Zinio.
"This costs us nothing extra, no printing or postage," he said. "Everything is profit, and I look forward to the time when iPad issue sales become a major component to our circulation."
Cost them nothing? Pure profit?
I think he needs some accounting and business management (or honesty?) lessons.
I don't know about anyone else but I have been hit by a bunch of adverts trying to get me to subscribe to GQ and other Conde Nast publications. They have a great opportunity (to really add to the content) with WIRED but I have not heard anything about it.
I think that Apple screwed WiReD when it changed its developer agreement, which accounts for the delay.
what good is a magazine when I can load up hundreds of thousands of news websites, blogs, special interest sites, etc, all of them for free? In addition, all of them navigate and look great on the iPad.
I agree. Monthly magazines are at least 2 or 3 months behind the curve these days.
Even printed newspapers print yesterday's news - by the time the print edition might hit my doorstep, all theonline news stories have been updated twice.
If you buy a computer magazine as of right now, they likely will inform you that Apple has just announced their new product, the iPad.
I know Popular Science is combining their print and iPad subscription rreal SOON! At least that was what I was told when I emailed them. I bought one iPad issue but won't be purchasing again until the subscription is up and running.
Time Magazine also said that they will be doing subscriptions in the coming months. Don't know when exactly. Hopefully they'll combine their print subscription with their iPad subscription like PopSci is planning on doing. They used to sell one app for every single issues but they since created a single app where you can purchase in-app.
I believe Conde Nast is planning a subscription also but I guess they and the other publishers are playing which model will work. But based on user comments they might eventually just stick with a discounted subscription model just like the print versions.
I hope so. I was also thinking how will they allow for the management of the different issues? Obviously people don't want to carry ALL of their issues with them at some point as it will get too large. So how do you remove select issues from your app? I hope that there's a way to do that. Offload to your PC/Mac.
Second, I think that there's a way for publishers to change the ads revenue model on these magazines. Instead of using static ads like in the print, they can use more interactive and dynamic ads which changes depending on who's paying them what. So the ads would change each time you view a specific month's issue. Essentially, the content of the magazine doesn't change, but the ads do. That would also mean that the magazines only need to have the content makinig the files sizes smaller.
Interesting post. I'm not sure what to think of readers not differentiating between ad/edit content, but at face value it highlights a shift I hadn't realised was now a fait accompli.
Back in the 1980's, when the yuppies were first being born from ranks of the urban pioneers, before the first great real estate crash and long before the internet was a cultural phenomenon, Boston had a self-conscious throwaway publication called STUFF, which consisted of NOTHING but cutting-edge visual advertising of local trendy lifestyle stores and restaurants.
It was fun to flip through on the subway. It still blows my mind that such a publication existed. My gay friends who worked in fashion and advertising would page through it oohing and aahing. I used to chuckle inwardly.
It was fun to flip through on the subway. It still blows my mind that such a publication existed. My gay friends who worked in fashion and advertising would page through it oohing and aahing. I used to chuckle inwardly.
I don't know if you have heard this or not but Apple is not having problem selling iPads. They have problem keeping up with demand.
We should ask him how much he is willing to place as a bet on his prediction ... SpoOn May 18th 2010 said:" I optimistically give the adoption rate for the iPad about 4-5% about a year from now."
what good is a magazine when I can load up hundreds of thousands of news websites, blogs, special interest sites, etc, all of them for free? In addition, all of them navigate and look great on the iPad.
I confess I wonder about their business model. I am happy with iPad friendly web sites that update as new information comes in. The idea of a monthly product is so 'print thinking'. Hopefully with new HTML5 design tools coming (hint hint) web sites for iPad can be exciting and dynamic.
Looks like there are plenty of uninformed opinions, though.
I don't have an iPad yet, but I wanted to see what GQ was going to do about formatting their mag for the iPhone.
Not bad at all, actually. If you're in portrait mode, it's like an e-book with navigation-based pages and a table view table of contents. Each article is smoothly scrolling size-adjustable text with a popup menu for the media.
Flipping to landscape, you get a more realistic mag layout and two-page spreads with embedded media. There is a slider revealing a see-through page number 1 ? 167 as you scroll. Though you can't zoom in far enough in landscape to read the text on the spreads, when you flip back to portrait, you're in the appropriate article. There are also page flip arrows on both sides in landscape.
There is a "subscribe" page on which you can buy 12 issues for $1 each.
I think they did a good job on the technical end of things. I'm not a GQ-kind of guy, but I applaud Conde Nast for this initial effort. I think a lot of people will come around and find magazine reading on Apple devices pleasurable if not preferrable.
Comments
Aren't the men that read GQ supposed to be a little more manly, comfortable with who they are, and actually *not* scared of appearing gay?
Seriously, if you even think of stuff like this and are not a complete homophobe or over 75, you might have some problems with your own concept of manhood.
Sorry to burst your gay bubble and throw some reality in your face.
"Not very good for small (iPHONE) screen and would be much better if available as download for desktop/MacBook use".
Of course, at the time of release, the iPAD wasn't yet known. Bearing in mind the rather blunt comment of Hussinger, when he said : "this costs us nothing extra, no printing or postage, everything is profit", there's no reason why the price couldn't be brought down a bit (much !) more...
Does anyone know if the app includes *all* the content of the magazine? GQ is usually over a centimetre thick when I see it in the store. anyway.
Oh my god! A centimeter thick? How could they fit SO much information in the iPad? It's not even a centimeter thick itself! Impossible!
You are kidding, right?!
I'm pretty sure he's somehow posting from an alternate universe where even the laws of physics describing the locally observable phenomena are different.
Actually, most magazine readers no longer differentiate where they get their information from. The advertising and editorial are of equal service to them. This is especially true for fashion and lifestyle magazines. The days of church/state separation between advertising and editorial are basically gone.
Legally (postal rules) a magazine must be at least 20% editorial to be mailed under periodical postage regulations. Most magazines maximize their ad/edit ratio in order to maximize profits and the expense of paper and distribution. Subscription income hardly covers the basic overhead. My assumption is that only advertisers who pay are going into the digital version, and they are replicating only the parts of the magazine for which they have digital rights. So no matter how you slice it, the digital version will never be the same content as the print. That's why they need to reinvent the entire experience.
The fact is that editorial departments are not set up to provide continuous digital content, especially rich media experiences. Creating a monthly event digitally will be a problem for any magazine which goes onto the iPad. This is why the majority of success lays in opinion and news formats.
Interesting post. I'm not sure what to think of readers not differentiating between ad/edit content, but at face value it highlights a shift I hadn't realised was now a fait accompli.
I will buy it if
1, it is $1.99 per issue, but I can subscribe 12 issues for $9.99
2, it contains all pages from the paper version
3, I can sync the magazine between my iPad/iPhone.
Agreed. Have you thought of sending them this feedback? I would...
ZINIO
Do check this out if you haven't already. I am intrigued by it. Some reviews aren't so good and the prices aren't mind-blowingly fantastic, but hey, it's a start for the iPad.
Absolutely! I downloaded this specifically to use on my iPad even before I had it. So far I've only got one subscription... Surfer Magazine at $9.99 a year. I used to subscribe to it a long time ago but just got to the point I was being overrun with all of them (and many others too). It's great. Easy to read, all the pages in the print version and the pictures are awesome on the screen. It came with some sample magazines and there's an issue of National Geographic and the photography is stunning. I'll probably end up subscribing to it too. So far I'm really liking Zinio.
"This costs us nothing extra, no printing or postage," he said. "Everything is profit, and I look forward to the time when iPad issue sales become a major component to our circulation."
Cost them nothing? Pure profit?
I think he needs some accounting and business management (or honesty?) lessons.
I don't know about anyone else but I have been hit by a bunch of adverts trying to get me to subscribe to GQ and other Conde Nast publications. They have a great opportunity (to really add to the content) with WIRED but I have not heard anything about it.
I think that Apple screwed WiReD when it changed its developer agreement, which accounts for the delay.
Agreed! Where's the imagination for the new delivery method? Ride the wave!
Where's the 'Wow' factor?
And I thought that Apple was going to single-handedly save the print industry...
GQ?!
Outside of a a few-block radius of midtown Manhattan's 5th Ave, does anyone read that stuff any more?
They sell about 10,000,000 issues a year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GQ#Circ..._and_Ownership
what good is a magazine when I can load up hundreds of thousands of news websites, blogs, special interest sites, etc, all of them for free? In addition, all of them navigate and look great on the iPad.
I agree. Monthly magazines are at least 2 or 3 months behind the curve these days.
Even printed newspapers print yesterday's news - by the time the print edition might hit my doorstep, all theonline news stories have been updated twice.
If you buy a computer magazine as of right now, they likely will inform you that Apple has just announced their new product, the iPad.
I know Popular Science is combining their print and iPad subscription rreal SOON! At least that was what I was told when I emailed them. I bought one iPad issue but won't be purchasing again until the subscription is up and running.
Time Magazine also said that they will be doing subscriptions in the coming months. Don't know when exactly. Hopefully they'll combine their print subscription with their iPad subscription like PopSci is planning on doing. They used to sell one app for every single issues but they since created a single app where you can purchase in-app.
I believe Conde Nast is planning a subscription also but I guess they and the other publishers are playing which model will work. But based on user comments they might eventually just stick with a discounted subscription model just like the print versions.
I hope so. I was also thinking how will they allow for the management of the different issues? Obviously people don't want to carry ALL of their issues with them at some point as it will get too large. So how do you remove select issues from your app? I hope that there's a way to do that. Offload to your PC/Mac.
Second, I think that there's a way for publishers to change the ads revenue model on these magazines. Instead of using static ads like in the print, they can use more interactive and dynamic ads which changes depending on who's paying them what. So the ads would change each time you view a specific month's issue. Essentially, the content of the magazine doesn't change, but the ads do. That would also mean that the magazines only need to have the content makinig the files sizes smaller.
Interesting post. I'm not sure what to think of readers not differentiating between ad/edit content, but at face value it highlights a shift I hadn't realised was now a fait accompli.
Back in the 1980's, when the yuppies were first being born from ranks of the urban pioneers, before the first great real estate crash and long before the internet was a cultural phenomenon, Boston had a self-conscious throwaway publication called STUFF, which consisted of NOTHING but cutting-edge visual advertising of local trendy lifestyle stores and restaurants.
It was fun to flip through on the subway. It still blows my mind that such a publication existed. My gay friends who worked in fashion and advertising would page through it oohing and aahing. I used to chuckle inwardly.
Oh my god! A centimeter thick? How could they fit SO much information in the iPad? It's not even a centimeter thick itself! Impossible!
The display glass is very thin. I don't think a thick magazine would do well on the iPad.
It was fun to flip through on the subway. It still blows my mind that such a publication existed. My gay friends who worked in fashion and advertising would page through it oohing and aahing. I used to chuckle inwardly.
Because they didn't know you're gay too?
I don't know if you have heard this or not but Apple is not having problem selling iPads. They have problem keeping up with demand.
We should ask him how much he is willing to place as a bet on his prediction ... SpoOn May 18th 2010 said:" I optimistically give the adoption rate for the iPad about 4-5% about a year from now."
I am not buying a single magazine on the iPad.
what good is a magazine when I can load up hundreds of thousands of news websites, blogs, special interest sites, etc, all of them for free? In addition, all of them navigate and look great on the iPad.
I confess I wonder about their business model. I am happy with iPad friendly web sites that update as new information comes in. The idea of a monthly product is so 'print thinking'. Hopefully with new HTML5 design tools coming (hint hint) web sites for iPad can be exciting and dynamic.
I don't have an iPad yet, but I wanted to see what GQ was going to do about formatting their mag for the iPhone.
Not bad at all, actually. If you're in portrait mode, it's like an e-book with navigation-based pages and a table view table of contents. Each article is smoothly scrolling size-adjustable text with a popup menu for the media.
Flipping to landscape, you get a more realistic mag layout and two-page spreads with embedded media. There is a slider revealing a see-through page number 1 ? 167 as you scroll. Though you can't zoom in far enough in landscape to read the text on the spreads, when you flip back to portrait, you're in the appropriate article. There are also page flip arrows on both sides in landscape.
There is a "subscribe" page on which you can buy 12 issues for $1 each.
I think they did a good job on the technical end of things. I'm not a GQ-kind of guy, but I applaud Conde Nast for this initial effort. I think a lot of people will come around and find magazine reading on Apple devices pleasurable if not preferrable.