Sports Illustrated's Tablet concept shows serious consideration
Peter Kafka's Media Memo has another media company's take on the tablet computer. This time, Time, Inc's Sports Illustrated is given the tablet makeover. Just like Wired's concept, we're huge fans of the new medium. These concepts show that the media companies are serious about the tablet and that maybe...just maybe...Apple has given the word out to a few companies to gather their content up for a new medium.
Because, like it or not, it sounds like 2010 will be about the tablet.
At 2:18 we see a Mac OS X scroll bar, which could mean about anything (thanks commenter).
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Comments (30)
notice that this tablet has the same design features (back bezel with thin metal surround visable from the front) that are in the present macbook pro and imacs... kind of makes you wonder if apple doesn't have something to do with developing this concept.
At 2:18, the interface shows the blue aqua scroll bar of Mac OSX. Just sayin.
Hahahah yeah I was just about to post that.
So how is this for a marketing idea? get various publishers to release tablet concepts for 2010 for many different markets (news, sports, games, etc) and then get those individual groups all excited for the tablet magazine idea.
then on stage, you reveal that you arranged for every one of those groups to prepare their tablet demos, and you have them all available to sell today, on one device, that also runs much more than just magazines.
apple marketing machine at work behind the scenes? or just people accepting the inevitable and market for apple on their own free will?
I would buy this! Not necessarily for Sports Illustrated (maybe the swimsuits) but certainly for my other magazine subscriptions.
Sports Illustrated is so 80s. Does anyone buy that shit anymore?
The swimsuit issue is pointless when you have BangBros on the web.
Here's an idea. Cancel the subscription and use the savings to buy this tablet.
That very end credit sound is an iMovie sound effect just so ya know. So made on a mac.
Could be very cool but seems a bit over the top to do this for every issue.
I still kinda prefer WIRED's one.
Much better than Wired's PDF version of their paper mag. It seems SI understands that going digital allows you to do things you can't on paper, such as the scrolling table of contents and page rearranging. Some interesting concepts here. I don't know if a tablet will save the magazine industry, but it makes me think about a subscription.
The end result is essentially a web page that you can take with you (offline web pages).
There has to be more to the tablet than just read-only offline web pages. Let me edit docs, spreadsheets and presentations for starters.
Notice how the hands are fake. ;)
It's just a mockup.
The problem I see if the media companies will get greedy and charge an arm and a leg for content. Most folks will opt to surf the 'net for free.
This was impressive. Looking at SI's website now is a letdown... I'm ready to see some of this stuff for real
How is it not going to be a scratch magnet though? It doesn't have a lid like a netbook as far as we know at this point. And it can't be put safely in your pocket like an iphone or ipod. I'm not saying it's an issue that can't be addressed but it's a hurdle it'll have to overcome somehow.
Magazines come to life with a truly capable tablet. Beautiful. Dreamy.
Interactive multimedia has been around for years. The only thing new here is the tablet itself...and the marketing of said device. SI could easily make their entire site look like that. Can you imagine the download time each month if all that's offline? OK, you say, maybe it's not all offline, well then it's just another web page with touch instead of mouse clicks.
so this will essentially be an eMagazine Reader?
People have said it before and I want to give my take on it.
Publishers should realise that they can already do that now?
People have said it before and I want to give my take on it.
Publishers should realise that they can already do that now?
One day we will be telling our grand kids about this crazy stuff called paper, and how we used to print everything on it. By then it will probably be too difficult for them to understand how we got through the day!
There is some real stuff out there look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxXlqtg2rik
What's needed is one format. This shows how when each publisher goes off on their own, the whole thing becomes too complicated. Time seem to be packing in pointless features at the expense of simplicity. Hopefully Apple is working behind the scenes to come up with a standard. They have the advantage that most magazine publishers work on macs, so all they need is a killer app - Apple's product could become the 'Word' or 'QuarkXpress' of oneline publishing. Then Apple, with their millions of account holders, just need to provide subscription billing, podcast-like distribution via an App Store-like shopfront, and some killer hardware. Easy!
Is it possible all this can be done in iTunes LP/Extras? Probably. They're giving it away. Boom.
Is it possible all this can be done in iTunes LP/Extras? Probably. They're giving it away.
Boom. There's your format.
The current concepts of a tablet reader will be short lived. Takes too much use of the hands for something that's essentially designed for the eyes. The iPod was a no brainer as people had been wanting to take their music with them for a while. Size and portability were as important as functionality for the iPod and portable music's success. A flexible screen or eye lenses would make more sense in terms of freeing up the hands.
The narrow bezel of this concept would have you either constantly touching the screen by accident or getting cramps from the awkward position you have to hold it in.
Wow! I am blown away by this.
What is significant about the tablet is not so much its size but the content experience it offers. The SI magazine is an early but brilliant example of how convergence between magazines and TV could work. The fact that you use your fingers to touch the screen a la iPhone is just so much more intuitive than using a trad keyboard.
For this medium to truly succeed, it will need to ensure that the screen resolution is good enough for reading text. The Amazon Kindle offers 300 dpi. A standard PC screen about 80 dpi. if the iPad makes reading easy, then it is bound to be a hit.
So we have 10 types of principal uses for the iPad emerging:
I am sure there a bewildering range of other apps will take advantage of this convergence between the IPhone and the Mac. Whatever is offered, the touch screen environment that builds on the many advantages of the iPhone represents the next technological leap forward and, in my view is a game-changing device.
For me what is most significant about this device is the experience it has the potential to offer. Would I pay for content such as the Sports Illustrated magazine example showed? You bet. So cool!
Rupert Murdoch needs to stop fighting with Google and get into bed with Apple.
I'm think Apple might be working in an Tunekit CMS Framework for magazines and books. Because this concept looks like an iTunes LP. Who agrees with me?
I agree, this is too complicated. The solution should be the same from magazine to magazine. What are the common elements? The cover, the ads and the table of contents. Need to be able to turn the page (so in Apple's case, swipe). Anything more than those common elements that exist among print media, moves into web/interactive design and complicates production and most likely warrants an increase in price. Twitter, video, music links within the "digital magazine" requires more production time. Finding a way to get magazines and books into a format other than PDF is the real war here.
I agree, this is too complicated. The solution should be the same from magazine to magazine. What are the common elements? The cover, the ads and the table of contents. Need to be able to turn the page (so in Apple's case, swipe). Anything more than those common elements that exist among print media, moves into web/interactive design and complicates production and most likely warrants an increase in price. Twitter, video, music links within the "digital magazine" requires more production time. Finding a way to get magazines and books into a format other than PDF is the real war here.
Don't underestimate the touch capability or the all-in-oneness. Look at the iphone. And Amazon's doing well w/ their dedicated Kindle. So why wouldn't an uber-app-based iphone-style reader/sub $1,000 laptop/Apple TV/.... take off. And on the other side of the fence, it takes publishing one step closer to leaving siloed channels for true on-the-go multi-media. Which will require that content providers mirror the device and become better all-in-one publishers/broadcasters/digital resources. But with the collapse of so many pulp rags and the slow demise of the core TV networks, what's the choice? The opportunity is there.