Monday, December 28, 2009
The Digital Magazine: Has its Time Come?
We all love to flip through a glossy, interesting magazine on the plane, in the dentist's waiting room, or stretched out on the sofa in the evening. However magazines have not been isolated from the troubles that print media are having due to the online world. Many magazines are struggling to survive and some of them are moving completely online in order to stick around. In November we reported that leading tech magazine PC Magazine would go 100% online from February 2009, after 27 years of existing in print form. Let's look at how PC Magazine is doing, along with another digital magazine that we like called Avantoure.
Our writer Frederic Lardinois raised a very good question when PC Magazine went digital: why is PC Magazine putting time and effort into producing a digital edition of its magazine, instead of just focusing on improving its website? The answer probably comes down to one word: design. The best thing about magazines, to many of us, is their design. Probably the most successful tech magazine of this era is Wired, which is renowned for its design.
The digital PC Magazine magazine, which you can download a free sample of at Zinio, employs Flash technology and opens in a web browser window. We perused the June edition, but didn't see a lot of interactivity. Also many of the hyperlinks simply opened up pages in PC Magazine's website. A letter from a reader in the feedback section of this issue noted how he likes to print out parts of the digital PC Magazine. That implies to us that PC Magazine hasn't fully escaped the shackles of print. In fact it seems very much like the print magazine simply transplanted into an eBook. The magazine has plenty of fans, and is known for its reviews, however, it still has a few tricks to learn about digital magazines by the look of it.
Back in December 2006 we reviewed a new online magazine that impressed us with its flashy design: Avantoure. It's still going strong 2.5 years later. With the tagline "life is a game," Avantoure features rich media such as animations, interactive content, music, audio interviews, movie clips and TV commercials. The May-June 09 issue is as visually stunning as ever, using Flash as its format. It's presented online, within the browser, but is also available as an offline Flash file. The magazine costs £25 for 6 issues, or £4.50 for one issue. Generally speaking Avantoure is what PC Magazine should be aspiring to be.
So to answer the question that headlines this post: has the time of digital magazines arrived? Most people would agree that reading a magazine should be a relaxing, pleasurable experience. However if you're reading a digital magazine on your computer, chances are that you aren't especially relaxed. The savior of digital magazines though will be the increasing market penetration of eBook Readers, such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader device. With those devices, you will be able to read magazines in a relaxing manner on the plane and on your sofa.
R.U. Sirius, who edits a new digital magazine called h + Magazine, recently blogged that he didn't take to the digital format immediately. He wrote that he first tried the flash digital magazine format out "when I was in a hurried and impatient mood... and it confounded and irritated me." Later the same night, he returned to it "in a relaxed mood" and he found it "very very very quite readable." Of course he would say that, but it does reinforce that digital magazines need to be a relaxing read for people to truly enjoy them.
Our writer Frederic Lardinois raised a very good question when PC Magazine went digital: why is PC Magazine putting time and effort into producing a digital edition of its magazine, instead of just focusing on improving its website? The answer probably comes down to one word: design. The best thing about magazines, to many of us, is their design. Probably the most successful tech magazine of this era is Wired, which is renowned for its design.
The digital PC Magazine magazine, which you can download a free sample of at Zinio, employs Flash technology and opens in a web browser window. We perused the June edition, but didn't see a lot of interactivity. Also many of the hyperlinks simply opened up pages in PC Magazine's website. A letter from a reader in the feedback section of this issue noted how he likes to print out parts of the digital PC Magazine. That implies to us that PC Magazine hasn't fully escaped the shackles of print. In fact it seems very much like the print magazine simply transplanted into an eBook. The magazine has plenty of fans, and is known for its reviews, however, it still has a few tricks to learn about digital magazines by the look of it.
Back in December 2006 we reviewed a new online magazine that impressed us with its flashy design: Avantoure. It's still going strong 2.5 years later. With the tagline "life is a game," Avantoure features rich media such as animations, interactive content, music, audio interviews, movie clips and TV commercials. The May-June 09 issue is as visually stunning as ever, using Flash as its format. It's presented online, within the browser, but is also available as an offline Flash file. The magazine costs £25 for 6 issues, or £4.50 for one issue. Generally speaking Avantoure is what PC Magazine should be aspiring to be.
So to answer the question that headlines this post: has the time of digital magazines arrived? Most people would agree that reading a magazine should be a relaxing, pleasurable experience. However if you're reading a digital magazine on your computer, chances are that you aren't especially relaxed. The savior of digital magazines though will be the increasing market penetration of eBook Readers, such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader device. With those devices, you will be able to read magazines in a relaxing manner on the plane and on your sofa.
R.U. Sirius, who edits a new digital magazine called h + Magazine, recently blogged that he didn't take to the digital format immediately. He wrote that he first tried the flash digital magazine format out "when I was in a hurried and impatient mood... and it confounded and irritated me." Later the same night, he returned to it "in a relaxed mood" and he found it "very very very quite readable." Of course he would say that, but it does reinforce that digital magazines need to be a relaxing read for people to truly enjoy them.
Digital Web Magazine closes its doors
As some of our regular readers have guessed, yes it is true. Digital Web Magazine has ceased publication. For the reasons cited in Time To Change, it was clear to us that what we had was no longer working.
We called upon both our staff and readers for ideas on what we could change. We received a lot of good feedback. One thing that resonated with me was that out of all of the ideas that had the most potential to solving our current problems, none of them were about insignificant changes to what we have.
It doesn’t make sense to take what we have here and try to change it into something it is not. It makes more sense to simply start something else that is new. For this reason I feel that Digital Web Magazine will always be what it is; an online publication about the web industry.
So, today, I am sad to say that Digital Web Magazine has officially ceased publication. The site will remain in place with all of its articles hopefully far longer than their value is recognized.
I will continue to curate the site, maintaining it so it remains online and fixing broken links and typos. Most of my effort and time, just like the rest of the former staff, will be put into other projects, other websites and other publications.
I want to take a moment to personally thank each and every staff member, editor, designer, photographer, illustrator, information architect, database developer, web developer, web programmer, contributing writer, columnist and last but perhaps most important, each and every reader who ever read our publication. We couldn’t have made it this far without you. I genuinely mean that.
We called upon both our staff and readers for ideas on what we could change. We received a lot of good feedback. One thing that resonated with me was that out of all of the ideas that had the most potential to solving our current problems, none of them were about insignificant changes to what we have.
It doesn’t make sense to take what we have here and try to change it into something it is not. It makes more sense to simply start something else that is new. For this reason I feel that Digital Web Magazine will always be what it is; an online publication about the web industry.
So, today, I am sad to say that Digital Web Magazine has officially ceased publication. The site will remain in place with all of its articles hopefully far longer than their value is recognized.
I will continue to curate the site, maintaining it so it remains online and fixing broken links and typos. Most of my effort and time, just like the rest of the former staff, will be put into other projects, other websites and other publications.
I want to take a moment to personally thank each and every staff member, editor, designer, photographer, illustrator, information architect, database developer, web developer, web programmer, contributing writer, columnist and last but perhaps most important, each and every reader who ever read our publication. We couldn’t have made it this far without you. I genuinely mean that.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Digital Magazines In Our Life
We all love to flip through a glossy, interesting magazine on the plane, in the dentist's waiting room, or stretched out on the sofa in the evening. However magazines have not been isolated from the troubles that print media are having due to the online world. Many magazines are struggling to survive and some of them are moving completely online in order to stick around. In November we reported that leading tech magazine PC Magazine would go 100% online from February 2009, after 27 years of existing in print form. Let's look at how PC Magazine is doing, along with another digital magazine that we like called Avantoure.
Our writer Frederic Lardinois raised a very good question when PC Magazine went digital: why is PC Magazine putting time and effort into producing a digital edition of its magazine, instead of just focusing on improving its website? The answer probably comes down to one word: design. The best thing about magazines, to many of us, is their design. Probably the most successful tech magazine of this era is Wired, which is renowned for its design.
The digital magazine, which you can read at web digital magazine services, employs Flash technology and opens in a web browser window. We perused the June edition, but didn't see a lot of interactivity. Also many of the hyperlinks simply opened up pages in PC Magazine's website. A letter from a reader in the feedback section of this issue noted how he likes to print out parts of the digital PC Magazine. That implies to us that PC Magazine hasn't fully escaped the shackles of print. In fact it seems very much like the print magazine simply transplanted into an eBook. The magazine has plenty of fans, and is known for its reviews, however, it still has a few tricks to learn about digital magazines by the look of it.
Our writer Frederic Lardinois raised a very good question when PC Magazine went digital: why is PC Magazine putting time and effort into producing a digital edition of its magazine, instead of just focusing on improving its website? The answer probably comes down to one word: design. The best thing about magazines, to many of us, is their design. Probably the most successful tech magazine of this era is Wired, which is renowned for its design.
The digital magazine, which you can read at web digital magazine services, employs Flash technology and opens in a web browser window. We perused the June edition, but didn't see a lot of interactivity. Also many of the hyperlinks simply opened up pages in PC Magazine's website. A letter from a reader in the feedback section of this issue noted how he likes to print out parts of the digital PC Magazine. That implies to us that PC Magazine hasn't fully escaped the shackles of print. In fact it seems very much like the print magazine simply transplanted into an eBook. The magazine has plenty of fans, and is known for its reviews, however, it still has a few tricks to learn about digital magazines by the look of it.
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control. Magazines typically have editors or editorial boards who review submissions and perform a quality control function to ensure that all material meets the expectations of the publishers (those investing time or money in its production) and the readership.
Online magazines that are part of the World Wide Web, that is, all or part of a web site, are also called webzines. Ezine (also spelled e-zine and usually pronounced /iˈziːn/) is a more generic term commonly applied to small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by electronic mail (e-mail/email). Some social groups may use the terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as "electronic magazines" to reflect their readership demographics, and more importantly to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches.
Many large print-publishers now provide digital reproduction of their print magazine titles through various online services for a fee. These service providers also refer to their collections of these digital format products as online magazines, and sometimes as digital magazines.
Online magazines representing matters of interest to specialists in or societies for academic subjects, science, trade or industry are typically referred to as online journals.
Online magazines that are part of the World Wide Web, that is, all or part of a web site, are also called webzines. Ezine (also spelled e-zine and usually pronounced /iˈziːn/) is a more generic term commonly applied to small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by electronic mail (e-mail/email). Some social groups may use the terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as "electronic magazines" to reflect their readership demographics, and more importantly to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches.
Many large print-publishers now provide digital reproduction of their print magazine titles through various online services for a fee. These service providers also refer to their collections of these digital format products as online magazines, and sometimes as digital magazines.
Online magazines representing matters of interest to specialists in or societies for academic subjects, science, trade or industry are typically referred to as online journals.
History of Magazines
The Gentleman's Magazine, first published in 1731, in London, is considered to have been the first general-interest magazine. Edward Cave, who edited The Gentleman's Magazine under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine", on the analogy of a military storehouse of varied materiel, originally derived from the Arabic makazin "storehouses".[1]
The oldest consumer magazine still in print is The Scots Magazine, which was first published in 1739, though multiple changes in ownership and gaps in publication totaling over 90 years weaken that claim. Lloyd's List was founded in Edward Lloyd’s England coffee shop in 1734; it is still published as a daily business newspaper.
The oldest consumer magazine still in print is The Scots Magazine, which was first published in 1739, though multiple changes in ownership and gaps in publication totaling over 90 years weaken that claim. Lloyd's List was founded in Edward Lloyd’s England coffee shop in 1734; it is still published as a daily business newspaper.
Magazine Publication
The various elements that contribute to the production of magazines vary wildly. Core elements such as publishing schedules, formats and target audiences are seemingly infinitely variable. Typically, magazines which focus primarily on current events, such as Newsweek or Entertainment Weekly, are published weekly or biweekly. Magazines with a focus on specific interests, such as Cat Fancy, may be published less frequently, such as monthly, bimonthly or quarterly. A magazine will usually have a date on the cover which often is later than the date it is actually published. Current magazines are generally available at bookstores and newsstands, while subscribers can receive them in the mail. Many magazines also offer a back issue service for previously published editions.
Most magazines produced on a commercial scale are printed using a web offset process. The magazine is printed in sections, typically of 16 pages, which may be black-and-white, be in full colour, or use spot color. These sections are then bound, either by stapling them within a soft cover in a process sometimes referred to as saddle-stitching, or by gluing them together to form a spine, a process often called perfect-binding.
Some magazines are also published on the internet. Many magazines are available both on the internet and in hard copy, usually in different versions, though some are only available in hard copy or only via the internet: the latter are known as online magazines.
Most magazines are available in the whole of the country in which they are published, although some are distributed only in specific regions or cities. Others are available internationally, often in different editions for each country or area of the world, varying to some degree in editorial and advertising content but not entirely dissimilar.
Most magazines produced on a commercial scale are printed using a web offset process. The magazine is printed in sections, typically of 16 pages, which may be black-and-white, be in full colour, or use spot color. These sections are then bound, either by stapling them within a soft cover in a process sometimes referred to as saddle-stitching, or by gluing them together to form a spine, a process often called perfect-binding.
Some magazines are also published on the internet. Many magazines are available both on the internet and in hard copy, usually in different versions, though some are only available in hard copy or only via the internet: the latter are known as online magazines.
Most magazines are available in the whole of the country in which they are published, although some are distributed only in specific regions or cities. Others are available internationally, often in different editions for each country or area of the world, varying to some degree in editorial and advertising content but not entirely dissimilar.
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