Digital Publications are not an entirely new concept; the Amazon Kindle, first released in November of 2007, has quietly maintained the lion's share of the e-book reader market since it's inception, but the Kindle has never managed to significantly pique the interest of any major magazine publishers.
Conversely, Apple's highly anticipated release of the iPad has brought on a surge of enthusiasm from within the print industry. Magazine and newspaper publishers are chomping at the bit for an opportunity to revive their struggling print publications through Apple's promising new digital media platform.
Remarkable Interactivity, Right at Your Fingertips
Unlike traditional websites, the iPad is equipped with Apple's patented Multi-Touch technology, which eliminates the physical disconnect associated with pointing a cursor to a link on your screen then clicking a mouse button in order to perform an action.
Even the most advanced digital readers cannot replicate the sensation of turning the pages of an actual book, but the iPad's remarkable touch screen technology promises to offer users the most intimate and interactive digital reading experience to date. Apple's new high-tech gadget has an impressive list of features and capabilities, but digital publishers still need to deliver a functional product that is programmed to communicate with the iPad. This fact has energized software engineers worldwide and is spawning a new community of iPad app developers.
Apple's Open Source Framework Welcomes Innovation
The open source framework of Apple's Operating Systems has always been a welcoming platform for application developers. Since the release of the iPhone, Apple has aggressively encouraged the programming community to participate in it's proprietary Software Developer Program (SDK). SDK offers developers training tools, software, sample codes, simulators and more; all aimed at growing the already robust number of apps that are available for the iPhone, iTouch, and now, the iPad.
Publishing companies, in search of a seamless translation of their print publication into a digital format, are reaching out to developers in record numbers. Digital publications must now offer users a media-rich experience that is both intuitive and dynamic. Such a feat is no easy task, but (as to be expected) many tech-savvy publications, like Wired Magazine, seem to be way ahead of the creative curve. Wired recently released a video presentation of the new digital version of their publication and the results are impressive, to say the least.
Tech-Savvy User Will Have High Expectations
iPad users will definitely expect more than just a simple PDF page-flip version of their favorite print publications and because of the elevated expectations of end user, the demand for digital reader interface developers is higher than ever.
Features such as 3D image rotation, an interactive table of contents, hyper-links, embedded video, and fingertip navigation will soon become the gold standard for all digital publications. An exciting technology race is on for hundreds of magazine and newspaper publishers, all eager to claim a stake in this new digital frontier.
Carlos Anderson - With over a decade of professional experience as a Graphic Designer and several years of experience as Art Director for internationally ...
