With Apple’s iPad hitting stores tomorrow, so many have debated the genius versus the uselessness of the new gadget. Many, however, do agree that the iPad is a device most useful for consuming content rather than producing content, which just may be the medium needed to revive the publishing industry that has nearly deteriorated in our digital age.
Magazines like Interview and Marie Claire, as well as newspapers like the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, have already created apps and subscription plans for iPad customers, offering yet another extraordinary media paradigm in what Henry Jenkins calls our Convergence Culture, Where Old and New Media Collide.
Not only are the economics of the publishing industry—production costs, subscription fees and advertising dollars—going to be revolutionary on the producers’ end, but the traditional activity of reading a magazine will be equally revolutionary on the consumers’ end. (Not to mention, clearing our clutter at home and saving a few trees).
Simply put, the activity of iPad reading is a merging of the traditional magazine-format page with the interactive depth and expansiveness of being online. A reader can interact with the magazine content by watching behind-the-scenes photo shoots, saving articles, watching interviews, relaying back to Facebook and much more…the magazine comes to life. The device allows readers to engage with content in new, fascinating ways, making the iPad magazine a real page-turner! Watch here:
Marie Claire iPad
Interview iPad
