The update for Wired is here! That basically means the July edition of the magazine. It’s now a free app, and within it you can purchase the magazines. If you already had the June issue it is there as a free download for you. But you have to re-download it.
I’m glad they’re making future magazine editions as in app purchases. With some magazines (Time) you have to buy each magazine as an individual app. I won’t do that because it’s just to messy on my device so I don’t buy them. The only slight problem with this is that Wired seem to have mega sized downloads, this latest one clocking in at 337MB so at some point I’m sure the device will start to heave under the strain of all these Wired magazines.
Also, I’m not sure how they are going to handle the problem of updating their information on the app store. As it stands, the app description has generic app details, then current issue details, then the details of the last edition. This clearly needs a rethink.
When you launch the app after the update, you have 3 panels. The first is ‘iPad Edition Free Preview’. This has a download link with it so you can nab it if you like. It’s 51MBs. The second panel is the June issue, that I had initially bought, and the third panel is the next issue with the option to purchase at $3.99. They haven’t yet integrated a subscription option so this may feature in a new update at some point.
Current comments on the App Store suggest that the downloading of the June edition is causing people problems. Having to re download the initial 500MB magazine is also another reason people aren’t happy with it. Or – like me, I had to delete the first one. At 500MBs it was just too large too keep.
There are also a lot of comments about the number of ads in it. Many customers wondering with far less overheads if we should get a larger price cut or a reduction in ads. We don’t accept ads in our apps once we pay for them so there seems to be a number of disgruntled users.
Although I liked the first issue, and had to have it too see what the fuss was about, I find myself spending a lot of time tapping everything, or pressing and holding or pinching and zooming just to see if it “does” anything. I guess I’m wondering if I am expecting it to be all singing all dancing, and if it isn’t, I am left underwhelmed. Should I treat it like a paper based magazine or is this the start of a new wave of publishing?
How do you read these magazines? Are you wanting more interaction or do you just like to read all the information? Should they change the way digital magazines are published? Are they just glorified PDFs?
