In the video above, Swedish publisher Bonnier shows how their magazines would look and feel on a tablet.
I think magazines proactively showing how they will be able to thrive once the next wave of mass-adopted technology arrives (i.e. tablets) will help to limit the perception that the industry is doomed. By showing that they are thinking of how the industry will evolve to meet new technological standards, it gives consumer some faith that these publications will be reborn once this technology arrives.
I would easily pay 10$ for a digital subscription to the numerous magazines or newspapers I enjoy. Not only will they be taking the majority of printing costs out of the equation, they will be able to layer on limitless amounts of supplementary media onto their current content offering. These publications will be able to deliver their content with the breadth, presentation, and immediacy that people have become accustom to online, on the very devices that people are used to receiving this content on.
Magazines and newspapers currently require people to actively seek them out to deliver their content, but people no longer have any interest in actively seeking out what they want. People want the things they want to come to them, and that is what tablets will allow them to do.
I love reading magazines and newspapers, but not to the extent of going to the store to buy a physical copy. If you can bring me your content on something that I can kick back and relax while reading, then I’d be happy to pay. Until then I’ll read for free online.
As for now, Esquire is attempting to bridge the gap until tablets come to fruition by publishing their magazine through an iPhone application.
(My whole argument is based on the 99.9999% chance that the iTablet is real, and its spectacular.)
Here is another demonstration for Sports Illustrated, on how it would function on a tablet. Awesome.
