Magazine publishers are constantly talking about the future of their medium. Will people continue to buy the print edition or gravitate towards digital? Are customers satisfied with a replica edition or do they want something more unique and original?
AnOther Magazine has their finger on the pulse and has just released a digital first: a high-definition, moving magazine cover with a bespoke soundtrack. Rihanna’s moving image filmed by Inez and Vinoodh is displayed on the digital screen which wraps around 440 pages of fashion, interviews and more.
It is important to note that this isn’t an app that the company has developed but they are marketing it as a boxed set that includes a 9 by 12 tablet on the front and a more traditional magazine contained within. There is an audio soundtrack that can be listened to via the 3.55 mm headphone jack.
This boxed set is retailing for $125 and was unveiled today at Paris Fashion Week. Is this the future of publishing? I could see special anniversary issues and end of the year best of issues being the most compelling. What if the Time Man of the Year issue had interviews and motion animation displayed on the front cover and people could use as an artistic centerpiece in their homes? The possibilities of technology such as this are endless.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.