Wired has finally released an iPad-friendly version of its magazine (iTunes link), and early indications are that it’s pretty damn good.
There was a brief snafu where Condé Nast worked with Adobe to build the prototype application using AIR, an Adobe framework which is banned from Apple’s iPhone and iPad.
Now the app has been rejigged, and Wired has released its first ever digital edition of their printed magazine.
Advertisers have been offered premium spots in the digital app, allowing interaction and animation. Advertisers include GE, Olympus, Fidelity Investments and HBO.
The app costs $4.99, the same as the printed edition. Commenters on the article are already questioning why a $5 app includes advertising, a debate which will surely become more heated as more publishers release digital equivalents.
One interesting sidenote is that the app is a 500, that’s right, 500mb download. The lowest capacity iPad is 16gb, which means that after only 2.5 years with no other apps or content on your iPad, you’ll need to archive your old editions.
Surely one of the major benefits of a electronic book or magazine is the ability to carry around the back catalog?
Source: Wired
The app is great. A little heavy in my opinion (>500mb) and lacks copying and pasting, but the way in which you can interact with the content is something that not even Popular Science achieved in their first app particullarly the vertical and horizantal layout I think is better here. The multi paged ads with video are very cool also.