I know the topic of disappointment with current magazine pricing has been discussed under threads about specific titles and certainly can be viewed in the reviews for the titles currently available in the App Store, but I thought it would be prudent to start a thread to discuss the topic more generically.
One of my major letdowns with regard to the iPad is magazines. First, I had envisioned a more organized approach under the iBookstore. Today, some magazines have one app that is free where you pay to download monthly issues for a price. Other magazines have an app for each month's issue for a price. Why not organize them all in the iBookstore where they can be downloaded and held on your bookcase (or a subsequent magazine rack)? Second, what's going on with the pricing? I realize that some have argued that these magazines are only at the same price they retail for on newsstands, but many times they are more and I don't buy my magazines from a newsstand for just that reason: price. Why can't I have an annual subscription for the same $10 I pay today (or less since there are no printing expenses)? Lastly, where are all the titles? I realize the publishers did not want to incur the expense of creating digital versions of every title for a product whose future was unknown, but if they are using current purchase trends as an indicator they may come to the false notion that users arent interested, when in fact, they are just uninterested in the current model.
I just don't understand what happened here. I thought Apple was further along with the publishers on this one. My opinion is that they passed on Apple's offer to organize their titles and offer subscriptions (or very cheap issue by issue downloads) in search of profits, which I think was a big mistake.
Okay, I feel better
One of my major letdowns with regard to the iPad is magazines. First, I had envisioned a more organized approach under the iBookstore. Today, some magazines have one app that is free where you pay to download monthly issues for a price. Other magazines have an app for each month's issue for a price. Why not organize them all in the iBookstore where they can be downloaded and held on your bookcase (or a subsequent magazine rack)? Second, what's going on with the pricing? I realize that some have argued that these magazines are only at the same price they retail for on newsstands, but many times they are more and I don't buy my magazines from a newsstand for just that reason: price. Why can't I have an annual subscription for the same $10 I pay today (or less since there are no printing expenses)? Lastly, where are all the titles? I realize the publishers did not want to incur the expense of creating digital versions of every title for a product whose future was unknown, but if they are using current purchase trends as an indicator they may come to the false notion that users arent interested, when in fact, they are just uninterested in the current model.
I just don't understand what happened here. I thought Apple was further along with the publishers on this one. My opinion is that they passed on Apple's offer to organize their titles and offer subscriptions (or very cheap issue by issue downloads) in search of profits, which I think was a big mistake.
Okay, I feel better
