Apple Insider points to a demo of the soon-to-be-launched digital edition Sports Illustrated. If this is the future — and Wired and others are also working on their own digital editions — then maybe the magazine business isn’t doomed.


(HT: Doug Flather)

9 Responses to “Is this the future of magazines?”

  1. Sachit Gupta says:

    This looks great, especially if Apple comes out with a tablet. Thanks for posting this.

  2. Glenn says:

    Is this tablet a prototype coming soon from Apple?… I love it!

  3. Hyman Wong says:

    The tablet is cool.

    But the key point is that … it is the content behind the device, and how a user can consume the content.

    It can be a magazine, video, and user-generated content. All pulls from the internet and show up in *any* devices, anytimes, and anyplaces as the users want it. This is what Cisco has been pioneering for awhile.

  4. This is pretty sweet. There is a ton of content ready to go on a device like this (albeit in a more limited sense) & it’s produced by people who know what the future of the publishing world is and have known for years. Check out http://www.pdf-mags.com/

    Thats what I want this device for!

  5. Jeff says:

    Cool – except the cover of the SI mag which reads “Nobody does it better” needs to feature the Alabama Crimson Tide instead of Florida. RTR!

  6. Amazing and cool, but it only “saves” mainstream media if they can make money off of it.

    I briefly saw one ad for Weber grills, but that’s a far cry from the ad-packed model of current magazines.

    Is the idea that interactive digital magazines would be able to justify higher subscription rates to offset what looks like a huge decrease in ad presence? If so, that would be a huge change from the current semi-interactive SI site that is mostly free to use.

  7. Writers should be salivating for interactive tablet magazines. They would provide the opportunity to create a following by capturing the writing process, edits (extras) which didn’t make final copy, links to similar articles, or corollary events/interactions (tailgating prior to the game, person on the street prognostications) prior to the coverage of the game. I’m sold.

  8. Tony Pickering says:

    I thought this was fantastic and was planning on sharing it with my teacher colleagues until I got to the swimsuit segment – exciting new info delivery, same old commodification of women.

  9. Love it! Especially the interactive gaming stuff while watching the game. You are right – maybe there is hope!