iPad Digital Publications: Reality check
Posted by Mauricio Longo in General, Publishing on Mar 23rd, 2010 | 3 comments
I’ve discussed how magazines and newspapers are working to bring a digital edition to the iPad in two recent posts and there are things I like and dislike about how different companies are evolving in endeavor. There was always something in the back of my brain nagging me, telling me that there was something which wasn’t quite right with all the movies that people seem to think that must inevitably be embedded into these publications, simply because the iPad can handle them.
Last night, reading a post by Mike Cane called iPad Magazines: Doing It Wrong, I was finally able to put my finger on it as he rubbed it into my face in his usual very direct style: sound! Who wants a noisy magazine or newspaper? While I wouldn’t go as far as he does by saying that there shouldn’t be a way for you to listen to the audio of a video that is embedded in a magazine it certainly does seem like it would be desirable for videos to be muted by default. Can you imagine the situation where you are in a hospital waiting room and you pull out your iPad to read your magazines and it just blasts off with crowds cheering and all the other sounds that you can hear in the Sports Illustrated digital issue demo? Not good!
Imagine a subway ride where ten different people are going through newspapers or magazines and each of them is playing video after video. Yes, there are earphones that people can use, but I don’t imagine that most people will plug them in to start reading their magazines. Or imagine that you just want to read the paper on the sofa, besides your wife/husband that is watching TV.
What do you think? Should magazines and newspapers just go ahead and start playing videos with full sound when you touch them or should they play the muted video and offer you the option of turning on sound?
*Image: De Telegraaf
A colleague of mine reminds us often by saying,”Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.”
This applies to the audio content being turned on by default. You are right.
I’m not sure I really want video magazines but then again I’m probably past it anyway. I’m not the target audience for these video driven magazines. I just want information without the gee-whiz.
That isn’t to say that video/audio doesn’t have a place. It certainly does. It is just that personally I don’t want to wait on the video to get to the information since it doesn’t appear in the examples I’ve seen that the video is part of the actual information.
I already find it infuriating when I visit magazine style websites whic play audio on videos by default. It’s not what’s needed and does not draw me into buying the latest portable walruss cleaner. But my concern is that the magazines will be driven by the revenues generated by the companies who want us to buy their products. Do magazine sales bring in more profits than advertising? If they don’t then there is only going to be one outcome…pass the headphones!
[...] 2: If you are interested in this subject you should probably read an article called iPad Digital Publications Reality check, which complements this [...]
[...] If you are interested in this subject you should probably read an article called iPad Digital Publications Reality check, which complements this [...]
I don’t really think that currently sales brings in more than advertisement. However, I think that a bit of common sense is in order.
They need to consider that being “inconvenient” will hurt their image with the readers.