Viv magazine iPad concept

[bzz]

http://www.alexxhenry.com/ipad/ipad.html

Viv magazine iPad concept is sin city, man

Want to get our attention in a hurry? Tip us on a digital magazine concept for the iPad that combines footage captured by a prototype RED Mysterium-X sensor from inside of a Frank Miller style, noir hellscape. Of course, just because it was created for the iPad doesn't mean that the concept isn't applicable to any of the hundreds (not an exaggeration) of tablet devices destined to arrive over the next year. The feature concept, created by Alexx Henry and Andrew Grant together with co-directors Cory Strassburger and Ming Hsiung, redefines the art of infotainment. And make no mistake: as mainstream media fights for eyeballs this is blood for blood and by the gallon. These are the old days, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days. They're back. There's no choice left. And publishers are ready for war. See the video here:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/18/viv-magazine-ipad-concept-is-sin-city-man/

 

[niuniu]

It's all fun and games until you have to pay the subscription fee

 

[Bentron]

Wow. This makes me just excited about the iPad and all the possibilities with magazines. The only problem I see with this is, due to the increased work put in, it will probably cost more than a standard magazine.

 

[bpd115]

But...but....it's just a big iPod Touch!

 

[vini-vidi-vici]

It's neat, but I just can't see them investing this much $ and time in every issue. Also, does it really matter if there is a 20 second video clip introducing each article? It'd be fun to look at once, but I could see it get annoying after you have to look at it again and again and again as you navigate through the magazine. After a while, it'll just be like another fancy commercial.

At the end of the day, people read things like magazines because of the content, not the flashy packaging. If the articles are just some regurgitated blather you could have easily posted on a blog, this thing will fail. If they're well-researched and insightful, if the video bits actually contribute to the topic at hand, it might work. Some of the other magazine examples I've seen are better... they're still slick, but that slickness is a way to make the content richer, not just window dressing.

 

[bpd115]

It will be interesting to see how this can effect their sales. I would think you would start getting more subscription and impulse buys.

This concept can work extremely well for magazines like Black Belt.

 

[mrgreen4242]

I agree that this sort of thing is a little useless. What I want out of my eMagazines/newspapers is interactive charts and graphs, searchability, video clips in place of some photos (example, a short clip of a firefight in Afghanistan rather than or in conjunction with a still photo of it would be a nice addition), and interactive versions of the crossword/sudoku puzzles.

 

[niuniu]

Ever go to a designer website? You want to have a look at a range of something, and you get greeted by a ton of cutting edge footage. Skip it, and you get another load of nonsense to swim though just to get to what you want. I personally like to read a couple of articles per magazine I pick up, the rest of it is regurgitated filler. That's why I don't buy mags like Men's Health, or GQ or Esquire anymore. Even New Scientist is full of advertising and job listings now, the real meaty content, serious journalism and writing talent is increasingly forgone for filler. I think this web magazine stuff is going to make it all a lot worse. Money and effort going into studio effects and not into hiring writing talent/investigative journalism.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Ever go to a designer website? You want to have a look at a range of something, and you get greeted by a ton of cutting edge footage. Skip it, and you get another load of nonsense to swim though just to get to what you want. I personally like to read a couple of articles per magazine I pick up, the rest of it is regurgitated filler. That's why I don't buy mags like Men's Health, or GQ or Esquire anymore. Even New Scientist is full of advertising and job listings now, the real meaty content, serious journalism and writing talent is increasingly forgone for filler. I think this web magazine stuff is going to make it all a lot worse. Money and effort going into studio effects and not into hiring writing talent/investigative journalism.

Totally agreed.

And the further problem with anything like the iPad is the extreme upfront cost, let alone subscriptions fees, to even get in the game for this sort of new content.

I think, all in all, it's a long ways off yet from being "the future" of magazines and newspapers.

 

[One Love 1867]

The key word here is "Concept".

This Viv piece is proof that this sort of technology can be placed into digital print, but that doesn't mean this is the new standard to which others will follow. I suspect that the vast majority of print magazines that make the jump to iPad will largely remain true to their print form, offering subtle advances such as in-article images that can change and be flicked through, video content or audio interviews embedded as a part of the article and charts/other information etc than can be made interactive.

Like all "Concept" works this is an elaborate exhibition of what can be achieved, and those that can afford, are placed to and inclined to do so perhaps will reach these levels, but I'd have thought this sort of thing would be beyond most print magazines both in terms of budget and simply not wanting to be this elaborate. I would also assume that interactive features would be optional, with a settings menu allowing you to turn such things off either for individual subscriptions or as a feature of the iPad itself.

Still, I personally quite liked that, and as a proof of concept it's pretty intriguing.