Brian GarnerLess than a month after competitor Condé Nast revealed that a digital version of Wired magazine would be available by the middle of next year, publisher Time Inc. released information Wednesday on its plans for making digital magazines a reality. Time announced that Sports Illustrated would be the first magazine to undergo the digital transition, and produced not only a video walkthrough but also a working example.
Peter Kafka at All Things Digital recently had access to the working demo of the format and reportedly had "quite a bit of fun." He reports that Time plans on making this technology available by the middle of next year or sooner.
The video features a floating hand walking the viewer though the format's various features and capabilities including: multi-touch controls, live links and sports scores, multimedia content and advertisements, and sharing though social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
AppleInsider reported several weeks ago that rumors had been swirling over the creation of plans for a multi-publisher iTunes-like digital store for selling magazines. While both the Time Inc. and Condé Nast demos look similar in presentation and capability, it is unclear whether they will share a common format.
What is clear is that Apple's forthcoming tablet has greatly influenced the thoughts and actions of print publishers. It was reported earlier in the year that Apple had contacted various publishers in order to gain support for a new device that would revolutionize the way print media is presented, and the publishers have begun to respond.
Other important players in print media have also begun to make concerted efforts to break into the digital realm. Wednesday, The New York Times officially released the Times Skimmer, an application designed to make it easier to read the paper on different screen sizes and browsers. The Times claims that it provides online readers with the layout and experience of paging though an actual newspaper.
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78 Comments
This is getting interesting. Though I am no SI fan, the concept would of course work for many other mags and things.
I want my Tablet for Christmas!!!
Think of all the trees that won't get cut down because of the Apple Tablet replacing all the paper publications.
Let's hope these companies don't put all their eggs in one basket like the record companies did.
Another game-changing product in the off-ing. No doubt about it.
Congratulations, AI, for calling it early (perhaps, first?), and sticking to your guns on some of your basic predictions (e.g., no budging from your prediction of first quarter of CY 2010).
Think of all the trees that won't get cut down because of the Apple Tablet replacing all the paper publications.
At the same time, trees are planted so that they can be cut down and used for paper... If the land doesn't have a value has a forest, it might be used for something more profitable and less ecologically sound.