Commentary

Is Digital Print's Salvation?

Digital magazines aren't new; the idea of paperless media has been around since the early '90s. What's surprising is that little has changed in the last decade, since I first squinted my way through a still-popular travel title that, at the time, was first on the scene with digital copy.

Today's digi-mags still provide the "pftt-pftt" sound with each page turn, and the faux page gutters give the visual illusion of a traditional reading experience. Even the industry dialog remains constant: Magazines and newspapers tout hardware and digital reading software and talk of "joining the digital revolution."

For veterans of the print magazine industry, this new world of IAB CPM banners and pop-ups might seem disconcerting at first. The truth is: today's readers aren't looking for bells and whistles.

Publishers are keeping a sharp eye on Time Inc and Conde Nast's digital moves. (GQ will be the first Conde title on the iPad April 3.) The magazine world hopes digital readers and tablets will keep audiences hooked on a new platform. Unfortunately, a lot of energy is being directed at what might not save the medium after all.

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Ask yourself: If you were going to book a trip to Florida, what would you do? You'd go online to Google and type in where/when/how you want to get there. Or, you'd go directly to a digital travel agent or booking site like Expedia.

The thought of grabbing a copy of The New York Times' "Travel" section or Travel + Leisure wouldn't cross your mind. The same can be said of buying your next car. I browse ebay.motors.com far more often than Road & Track -- an occasional newsstand purchase -- when I'm looking to buy or lease my next auto. The lesson -- the Internet has been crushing print with hoards of vertical URLs that blur the branding lines and effectively commandeer various categories. Thank you, Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc.

Now we wait for Apple, Lenovo and Sony to save our paper-loving past by placing us on a vast array of wireless digital screens all linked to the Web. The big players are supportive of this plan -- to capture an Internet-user with traditional magazine architecture.

Here's the problem: Digital users never behave online the way you think they will. Ever watch someone use a laptop for five minutes? My mother, an average Internet user, goes from CNN to AOL to Oprah at a pace that makes Robin Williams seem catatonic. The average user stays on a page only as long as it takes to get the info she wants. Then, like a shot, she's off to the next site.

Digital reader technology has been around the block a few times, why reinvent something that appeals to such a small segment? And why charge a fee for something users can get for free in less than seven seconds at Bing? The Internet is basically a free information bonanza. We go online to search, seek, learn and pay our cable and phone bills. Very few are willing to pay subscriptions.

A final point: magazine content ages quickly. Regardless of the delivery -- either via a magazine or digital screen reader -- content will be quickly out gunned when it is searched alongside blogger and social-media sites. This direct-to-Web content is flooding key word searches and attracting valuable readership away from edit that costs more to produce. The business end of publishing still might save our beloved magazines -- if it would consider a faster, more effective, and more marketable way of producing edit.

On top of the pricey edit, special ad units are piled onto the bottom line, toppling what is left of budgets. Why aren't publishers, consultants and digital magazine makers interested in serving Internet Advertising Board ad units? Ad agencies aren't going to authorize special ad units to be created for tablets/magazines. Budgets are so thin they're hard-pressed to authorize a print ad to be resized for a digital magazine. Print publishers must forget the magazine stand and allow simple ad compliance that's easier for agencies and clients to follow.

It's important to note I love magazines and newspapers with a passion. However, I believe this battle was lost years ago. The battle remaining is whether The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal can somehow convince us that finely edited news material has a value beyond that of the fast and savvy blogger.

4 comments about "Is Digital Print's Salvation?".
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  1. Sam Whitmore from SWMS, March 10, 2010 at 9:46 a.m.

    These digital magazines are more likely to morph into content we now see on the Travel Channel than in the WSJ or NYT. Tablet-generation digital editions will mimic TV and movie content, both of which do just fine even though they don't offer the utility of search engines or blogs.

  2. Thomas Garzilli, March 10, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.

    Mr Pavia displays a surprising lack of understanding of the role of vertical publications and why consumers love them.
    Consumers generally dont subscribe to T&L to book a trip to Florida, or Road&Track to buy a car...even before the internet existed. People have always and will continue to consume these kind of magazines as a form of entertainment, aspiration, and inspiration relating to their specific interests- Travel, Sports, Automotive, Culinary, Fashion, etc.
    Digital versions of these experiences are simply a sign of the technological times...delivering the same experience to consumers in another form, will allow publishers to reach a larger audience.

  3. Jonathan Mirow from BroadbandVideo, Inc., March 10, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.

    Number one: why would I buy and expensive device (like I need more devices in my life) that would allow me to pay for content I get for free? Number two: digital magazines will never "morph" into content like we see on the travelchannel etc. because if they could - they would've already on the web. It's preposterious to think that a magazine will be "more interactive" on an iPad (isn't this already a hygiene product?) than on the web when the iPad doesn't allow the use of embedded flash.

  4. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, March 10, 2010 at 3:10 p.m.

    Craig, you don't read enough. Snippets don't count. You certainly don't read fashion magazines where you want to graze on every page. Search does not cut it. And no, most articles are not outdated as such. Many are used for reference even articles that go back to the last couple of centuries. Here's where search and articles can find a balance.

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