A look at the future of iMagazines (via the GQ iphone app)

by jeffhilimire on January 24, 2010

I’m actually not even sure if “iMagazine” is a word, but I couldn’t think of anything better to describe what is happening with magazines going digital/mobile. GQ is one of the first magazines to do a decent job at creating an iPhone app for their issues, so I decided to buy it (pricey at $2.99) to see what the fuss was all about.

My first impression of the app (downloadable here) is that it is very well done. Images are great, scrolling is easy and intuitive and it allows font size changes easily which I find a requirement when reading on the iPhone.

I downloaded the app, which is just a one issue app, and made room for it on the 1st page screen of my iPhone (if you’re interested in seeing what else is on my 1st screen currently, you can see that here).

One thing I really liked was how you can switch between iPhone and magazine viewing. If you are looking at content while holding the iPhone straight (portrait mode), you see this:

And if you turn the iPhone so it is in landscape mode, you see the actual magazine layout:

But this is the crazy thing. On the app, the app that I paid $2.99 for which is only 1 issue, they advertise that I can get a subscription for the printed magazine FOR $1 AN ISSUE! What the frack is that? That’s a great way to make me feel good about my purchase and a definite way to get me to buy the next issue. Nice work GQ.

For the most part its easy to read articles and consume the content. But the biggest miss here is the ability to share the content via Facebook or Twitter (or at least the ability for someone looking for this feature to find it). That’s a huge miss and if I were grading this app overall, with the cost at $2.99 and the lack of the ability to share, I’d have to give it an F which basically means, don’t waste your money until they fix some of this stuff. Plus if I can get the printed copy for 1/3 the price, why would I ever buy the issue on my phone?!

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Tagged as: GQ, imagazine, iphone

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  • http://twitter.com/redirectny redirectny

    Couple things Jeff. First I agree with you basic conclusion that the $2.99 single issue app is unsatisfying and your spot on about the social media fail.

    The general term I've heard for digital versions is digipub or epub. Regarding the lower price for print that has been the market norm for monthlies for a while now. And I'm not sure many magazines would have takers even if they were free.

  • http://www.jeffhilimire.com Jeff Hilimire

    Think tomorrow's Apple announcement (assuming everyone is right and we get a tablet) will change the way people consume “magazines”?

  • http://twitter.com/redirectny redirectny

    Jeff, that's HUGE Q — a lot riding on it. I do think Tablet will represent inflection point for publishers (but the device itself, while important, is more a proxy for many trends i.e. new devices, networked home, changing media habits, social, mobile) that will over next few years morph publishing into something new.

    The word “Magazine” doesn't quite sound right anymore in the multi-channel world of content. “Blog” fits a bit better but it could be we just refer to the title of the content (whether single author or aggregated authors) like “Druge,” “Daily Beast,” “Talking Points Memo,” “Lifehacker” etc. whether it's consumed via pc, mobile, tablet, app etc. “Magazine” probably becomes term of legacy print form. A hot section of a magazine with it's own blog might just be known by the blog like (Andrew Sullivan at Atlantic for example) or Page Six at the Post. I think the overarching media wrappers will exist but many people will “follow” the branded column, blog, vlog … basically technology is allowing the core personality to dominate and take their audience with them (like Sullivan took his blog from Time to the Atlantic Monthly in 2007). That's a big threat to media companies as it's easier than ever for brands to be individuals and not corporately owned.

    Bottom line is that the Tablet (and content stores like iTunes) do represent fundamental change to micro content, long-tail purchasing. The trends were there before the Tablet. But it likely WILL generate the buzz needed to make device-based content consumption — no only text but tv news, shows etc. — become main stream.

    We'll know a lot more by the end of the day!

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