Digital magazines v sites

[jules]

Anyone got experience or a view about producing a digital magazine v a running a blog style magazine on a website ( I mean digital only not converting a print mag into a dig version)

Could a flip magazine be more standout than another website and once subscribed the fact users receive a link to it means they are always tempted to open and read as opposed to getting in habit of returning to a site.

Ads can be bigger (full page) and interactive with links and video.

Do u think it's really going to take off this year?

 

[fisicx]

Try to view a digital mag on a mobile device, it just doesn't work.

Try to read an article on a notebook and you are forever scrolling.

I'm sure there will always be a niche but most of the ones I looked at are a real pain to use. So until they sort out the interface I don't believe they will never generate a huge following.

 

[paultnl]

I can not see the point of trying to recreate paper on screen. All the ones that I have seen have been a real pain to use and actively discouraged me to return.

 

[Onlineshopper]

I am a regular reader of a digital magazine.

I personally think they are great, but you must have to sell ad space like crazy to meet ends meet!

 

[jules]

thanks for diverse opinions..

I'm no expert from my initial research I can see these advantages

1. Design quality and use of screen space can be more effective than a site (ie has double pages, no need for space wasting sidebars, not constrained by wordpress type blog layouts)

2. You can digest a magazine as a whole and the reader can build knowledge over a series of pages in order, harder to do give this experience via a site. Blog/mag sites seem to need 4 posts a day and are more disposable? it's just the last post that matters? It's a fragmented experience and as a creator you just pump out content daily rather than think about the whole.

3. Advertisers can have big full or double page ads with interactive video and trackable links to products between content pages. Hard to do this with banners, only option is annoying takeover ads before you get to the content.

4. A Mag Feels different, there are so many blogs competing in every niche. It's not just a print mag on web it has video, interactive flash, and can still have tweet/social buttons. So it could take the best of a mag experience with the interactivity of a site.

any more thoughts?

on the negative side take the point re mobile viewing, plus of course there are higher hosting costs.

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

ebooks and digital magazines WILL take off, it is just a matter of time. More and more big newspapers are hopping onboard and if the rumoured Apple tablet device allows wireless downloading of newspapers and magazines then that will be a big step forward for the medium as consumers will be more inclined to start using them.
Format wise the type of magazine you see made through Issuu are pretty great.

 

[FireFleur]

The Linux Journal is a good example of a digital magazine, that is also in print, and is online for perusal to a degree.

The Linux Journal Archive CD is a very clever idea, in fact in many ways it allows for a double bite of the cherry and makes most readers very happy as if they miss a copy there is a chance to get it back, and they don't need to have magazines strewn about, and of the ability to use a program to search for the information contained within is a huge bonus.

 

[jules]

to see an interactive digital magazine have a look at this one (nothing to do with me btw)

http://content.yudu.com/A1ihn9/BDPW09IPCEd/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatdigitalcamera.com%2F

 

[fisicx]

to see an interactive digital magazine have a look at this one (nothing to do with me btw)

It plays music the moment it loaded so that's going to kill off 50% of your visitors. The rest of the magazine was mostly guff - stuff you can find in seconds using a search engines and of far better information quality.

I'm sure there will be a few niche magazines that will survive but can you imagine a whole room full of people flicking through interactive magazines all with sound blasting away....

I can see them being used by people on the move except they don't work on most mobile devices so that's the other 50% of your visitors out the window.