iPad Reveals the Future of Magazines - Steve Rosenbaum - MediaBizBloggers

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While there are going to be many evolving uses for the iPad, one of the communities that is watching the sale and consumer reaction most closely is the publishing world. While book publishers have been seeing new markets emerge with the Kindle, the nature of the text only black-and-white screen has made it less than optimal for glossy magazine publishers.

Today - magazines are watching their multi-media offering take a giant step forward with the launch of Apple's new portable, full motion, full color tablet device. While many publishers have been committed to flash-based players, the early implementation winners can be seen in magazines that embraced the HTML5 format and search friendly metadata and page layout that come from that format.

One of the leaders in the digital magazine space is New York Magazine (videos.nymag.com), who provides visitors with both an on page, and in blog video offering.

 

Looking more to breaking news - a site like Dan Abram's Mediaite.com is doing a fast turn around of media news from across the video landscape. They're finding, editing, organizing, and publishing - fast. Here is a place where the of HTML over flash is of paramount importance... making your pages and your video content visible and findable to the major search engines as they're published.

 

Another major national magazine that is using the Aggregation and Curation model to provide readers/viewers with a powerful compendium of political news from across the spectrum is the editorial team at The Week. A quick review shows that The Week is doing something that you can't find on television, a cross-network editorial filter that brings together the weeks Sunday news shows into a bite sized editorial package. Text and Video, seamlessly integrated.

 

Web video on the iPad is a godsend for breaking news in video - but that's hardly the only use for a hybrid publication of text, photos and video. Take for example the Readers Digest publication Taste of Home. TOH is a deep and rich collection of 'how to' videos for a family cook who's looking to put wholesome dinners on the family table. But for anyone who's tried to use a laptop in the kitchen or read recipes from the computer in the den, the iPad is going to change the use of Kitchen video forever. Now you've got the videos that have been collected and approved by Taste of Home cooks is ready to be sitting by stove...

 

It's clear already - web video is going to be a huge driver of both sales and use for the iPad. It's bright, it's light, it has more than 10 hours of continuous play battery life, and it mixes text and video and interactive features in a way that seems like it will engage readers and advertisers alike. Among the feature that can't be overstated is the importance of portability in the use of video that can break free of the office or the living room and be right where you need it to be.

As one final example, the tips, tricks, and repair help that is offered by Rodale's Bicycling Magazine will give pro cyclists and passionate amateurs alike a new hands on guidebook of video that can sit comfortably by your bicycling while you adjust the Derailleur or review the proper settings for the breaks.

 

The iPad is a game changing device for publishers. It makes content more personal, gives advertising the ability to be responsive and interactive, and turns desk bound video into a portable and pleasurable experience. It's clear that video needs to be part of every magazine experience now, and as the Curation ecosystem emerges, and more and more sites can embed and embrace video that is contextual and appropriate for their site without having to incur the substantial costs of massive content creation endeavors, this space is likely to grow rapidly.

Steven Rosenbaum is the CEO and Co-Founder of Magnify.net - a fast-growing video publishing platform that powers more than 50,000 web sites, media companies, and content entrepreneurs to aggregate and curate web video from a wide variety of web sources. Currently Magnify.net publishes over 50,000 channels of Curated-Consumer Video, and is working closely with a wide variety of media makers, communities, and publishers in evolving their content offerings to include content created by, sorted and reviewed by community members. Rosenbaum is a serial entrepreneur, Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker, and well known innovator in the field of user-generated media production. Rosenbaum Directed and Executive Produced the critically acclaimed 7 Days In September, and his MTV Series Unfiltered is widely regarded as the first commercial use of Consumer Generated Video in US mass media. Steve can be contacted at steve@magnify.net Follow Steve Rosenbaum on Twitter: www.twitter.com/magnify

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