The future of digital magazines: Mag+
18th December 09
Posted in design, technology
We were stopped in our tracks by this concept video from the design consultancy Berg for Bonnier R&D. There is a fluidity and beauty to the design that suggests a significant step forward from the first generation, ‘push button’ e-readers. We particularly liked the fact the prototype (which makes its debut around 1 minute in) suggests it has been designed to create a better reading experience, as opposed to recreating slavishly the experience of reading a magazine. Not that this has been ignored: Berg make the point that magazines still arrive in separate issues, for the simple reason that “people like the sense of completion at the end of each.”
You move through the magazine by scrolling articles placed side-by-side (they call it a ‘mountain range’) and whilst they were aiming to create a “a space for quiet reading. It’s pleasant to have an uncluttered space”, you can heat up the words and pics to share, comment, and to dig into supplementary material. It certainly seems a logical and neat way to resolve the oft-discussed need to balance our thirst for more, more, more information, with the requirement to concentrate on one thing from time to time.
If you’ve been following the fortunes of e-readers, none of this may sound particularly radical. The bit that’s impressive is the execution. And, in their own words, Bonnier are interested in “sparking a discussion around the digital reading experience in general, and digital reading platforms in particular.”
That discussion is certainly happening. Aside from the general rants and evangelism, there are more balanced points of view on the topic, not to mention an excellent follow-up post here from Tim Maly at Bookfuturism that examines the operational, production process piece missing (possibly inevitable at concept stage…) and why it’s important. Well worth the read. There’s clearly huge scope for development: our own Richard Schatzberger notes the multimedia opportunities haven’t been looked at deeply enough. “The move to magtabs will start to break down the barriers between web broadcast and print. Live news playing inside the article about the same subject, your friends opinions connected to the content, live audio conversations about the story as you read it (like being in a coffee shop and hearing everyone talk about an article in the times).”
Either way, we liked the concept and we look forward to seeing where Berg and Bonnier take it. One thing is for sure:
“Ebook readers will be completely different in 2020. And paperback books will in all likelihood still be very much around, and pretty much the same.” Comment from tcarmody on Bookfuturism’s “Nostalgic Myopia” post
Here’s the introductory post in full from Matt Webb, MD of Berg London.
Thanks to James Higgs (@higgis) for pointing us in the direction of the articles above, not to mention the discussions he’s been sparking of his own.
7 comments on “The future of digital magazines: Mag+”
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Mel Exon
WOW! Very good! Please make it happen!
http://www.idshirt.net
Mel, very nice overview. The real question is whether publishers, now dying, can use a new platform to try to get readers to pay — avoiding the mistake they made on the web where everything now drives to the price point of free.
You might enjoy the Sports Illustrated prototype as well, which shows more use of video and interactivity, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntyXvLnxyXk&feature=player_embedded
Ben, thanks for sharing the Sports Illustrated link - it does help demonstrate in more detail how digital navigation can actually improve the user experience of a magazine - more personalised, richer, more intuitive, faster.
To your point about getting people to pay in the land of the free…thank you for raising such a key question. I think it’s fascinating that the answer is ‘create another platform’. The tablets present a very seductive solution to the media owner - premium-looking and, if they get the relationship right with manufacturers, very controllable in terms of format, UX, cost etc. Equally, I know I’m not alone in being fairly convinced Apple will make us, the citizens, fall deeply and irrevocably in love with the idea of carrying an A4 sized device around in our bags on a daily basis. Probably just in time for the holidays, end 2010. It’ll be so much more than just high quality, mobile multi-media content. It could change our lives, just like the iPod changed how we listen to music. I can imagine video calls (literally a ‘window on my world’) and augmented reality stuff *actually getting adopted*.
That said, I am always a bit sceptical whenever I read statements like the one below:
“E-paper e-readers will be one of the major disruptive technologies of the early 21st century,” said the report’s author, Nick Hampshire, “it will change the nature of publishing and related print industries forever, ushering in a host of innovative ways to present, market, and distribute content.”
“Yup. Maybe” is my instinctive first reaction. Truth is though, I absolutely can imagine a time when we regard reading a book or magazine as antiquated as reading a scroll. For me, it boils down to one thing: people will pay - in droves - for something that transforms their experience for the better. Anything less and we stay with what we’ve got (my near non-existent relationship with my Kindle is all the evidence I can conjure at this point in the evening, but hopefully you get the idea).
Final point on this - my fascination with this is partially down to the fact the solution strikes me as a pretty dramatic strike against the egalitarian, open culture that’s grown up around the web. Removing content from circulation (content that used to be free or cost a few dollars in hardcopy) and selling it back exclusively via what might eventually drop to a $200+ device - is that progress? I guess we’ll see.
I think you may find our latest forecasts on the E-paper E-reader marketplace interesting: Unit sales are booming. In 2008, 1.1 million e-paper display-based e-readers were sold, in 2010 that number will rise to about 6 million, and by 2020 global annual e-reader sales will reach 446 million units with a value of over $25 billion.
Please let me know if you want me to send you parts of this report
Regards,
David Renard
mediaIDEAS
This week, global research and advisory firmmediaIDEAS (www.mediaideas.net) announced the launch of a new comprehensive report analyzing and quantifying the opportunities for e-paper e-readers over the next decade. The report, The E-paper E-reader Phenomenon: The Dramatic Growth of a $25B Market, draws together mediaIDEAS’ extensive research and knowledge of e-reader technology and markets.
“E-paper e-readers will be one of the major disruptive technologies of the early 21st century,” said the report’s author, Nick Hampshire, “it will change the nature of publishing and related print industries forever, ushering in a host of innovative ways to present, market, and distribute content.”
The report shows that since the first e-paper e-reader came onto the market in 2004, these devices, with their “green” credentials of reducing paper consumption, have already proved very popular with consumers, and the market for them is accelerating. By 2006, there were 3 types of devices available, by 2007, there were 5, and currently there are over 40. This number will more than double in the next twelve months. Unit sales are also booming. In 2008, 1.1 million e-paper display-based e-readers were sold, in 2010 that number will rise to about 6 million, and by 2020 global annual e-reader sales will reach 446 million units with a value of over $25 billion.
About
mediaIDEAS was created in 2007 by Bob Sacks (Bosacks), President/Publisher of The Precision Media Group, Nick Hampshire, former Senior Partner of AFAICS Research, and David Renard, President of MU Inc. and former Senior Analyst at Gartner Group. Drawing upon over three-quarters of a century of publishing experience, including 22 years providing consultancy services to publishers on a wide range of critical issues, mediaIDEAS helps those involved in the information distribution industry make informed strategic decisions and plan for a more competitive future.
Contact
For further details and inquiries or to sample The E-paper E-reader Phenomenon: The Dramatic Growth of a $25B Market, please visit http://www.mediaideas.net.
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