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One of the iPad’s biggest selling points is its potential as an e-Reader. The included iBooks application and the optional downloadable Amazon Kindle app, for example, provide hundreds of thousands of books to read, all in a relatively standard format: swipe horizontally to flip a page . iPad magazines, however, are trying to be far more creative. As we’ve mentioned before , the new magazine-style applications include everything from video to music within their pages, plus interactive features and clickable ads. But one problem with these innovative new ‘zines is that they each do their own thing, in their own way. While this early adopter applauds the innovations we’re seeing on the iPad platform, the mainstream user may find the variations confusing. Sponsor Mini-Movies and More First up: the heavily praised interactive VIV mag , a standout among online newstand Zinio’s offerings. Early demos were decidedly exciting. This wasn’t text – it was a multimedia experience ! The article featured in the demo video , a sex-ed advice guide, used actors against a green screen to produce a mini-movie illustrating the article’s main points. Worried about AIDS? A women writhes against a bull’s-eye as knives fly at her. Afraid of pregnancy? A women casts a worried glance at the man entering the room while pressing her hand to her stomach. In practice, however, this format is not as much fun as expected. The cover features clickable links, one that reads “Enter Issue” and another that says “Click to VIVIFY this cover!” Sorry – what? Now I know that they mean “launch interactive content” but mainstream Dicks and Janes may not. And the iPad, if anything, is targeting these so-called “everyday” users – the content consumers whose tech-savviness is a bit lacking, if I may say so kindly. But if you don’t “vivify” the mag, you miss the movies – the main attraction. (There is a “Vivify” button at the bottom of each page, too, in case you didn’t see it the first time around, but the text next to it says “Tap on the ‘V’ to read more.” Read? How about “watch” or “see?”) Another problem with VIV? I’m not sure if it was an app glitch or an iPad one, but the first movie got stuck “downloading” at 16%. Future, here I come? Next is TIME magazine . A gushing editor’s letter talks about the publication’s embracing the new slate-computer platform of the iPad. But how they’ve done so is already attracting some criticism . One of the problems is that TIME decided to go with vertical swipes for reading articles but horizontal swipes for navigating from one article to the next. This is not intuitive. On an eReader, whether book or magazine, we expect to read left to right. Vertical only works on the desktop-based web. Condé Nast’s GQ magazine is another specialized iPad creation I examined. It doesn’t start off well: upon launch, a progress bar displays how much of the magazine has download so far. Will the mainstream user know that you don’t have to wait for the download to complete before you tap “read issue?” I’m so not sure. They’ve also chosen to go with vertical navigation for reading articles and horizontal navigation for scrolling between sections. Meanwhile, Car & Driver’s “iPad Interactive Edition” returns you to plain ol’ horizontal flipping. In fact, the magazine looks so much like a color PDF that we almost missed the interactive features. Obviously, two white squares overlaid on an image surely means “launch photo gallery,” right? One app that gets it right is NPR ….although that’s probably because it’s not really trying to be a magazine, despite the company’s claims that it uses a “magazine-style presentation.” While it’s true that you can flip from page to page, horizontally of course, the app is more than a mere digitized mag. There’s an audio player, playlist creator, program and station finder and more. The news items with an audio track feature buttons for listening and adding to your playlist. Straight text-based items do not. Simple and easy, and overall, well-done. At the end of the day, these magazines are still more fun than their analog counterparts, but, clearly, they’re all in very experimental stages right now. The navigation and interactive features differ from magazine app to magazine app, with some getting it better than others. Will they eventually standardize their presentation in an effort to simplify their features? Should they? It’s too early to tell what format readers will prefer: mini-movies, some interactive bits sprinkled throughout or straight-laced e-reading. In the meantime, it will be interesting to try out all the variations. Discuss
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iPad Mags: Amazing or Confusing?
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Lest we forget what is at stake with the situation involving Google and China, the Washington Post has published today a list of directions from the Chinese government sent out to all media outlets on how they are allowed to cover the incident. The rules are a stark reminder of why, no matter how long Google kowtowed to government demands there, the search engine’s actions are important for the development of a free society. Obtained and translated by China Digital Times , the instructions specifically outline how traditional and new media may or may not approach the topic. Sponsor The instructions start out highlighting how important Google’s actions are and how this importance is not to be emphasized to the public: Google has officially announced its withdrawal from the China market. This is a high-impact incident. It has triggered netizens’ discussions which are not limited to a commercial level. Therefore please pay strict attention to the following content requirements during this period: The first instruction really says it all: “Only use Central Government main media (website) content; do not use content from other sources.” The Chinese government wants to stay on top of forming the message about Google and its place in China, as we saw with stories this past week about Google colluding with U.S. spies and being an agent of the U.S. government, not an agent of free thought, speech or change. The instructions go on from there, directing media to use the government assigned title, refer only to government main media websites and control any and all discussion. The section on Internet media is particularly informative. B. Forums, blogs and other interactive media sections: 1. It is not permitted to hold discussions or investigations on the Google topic. 2. Interactive sections do not recommend this topic, do not place this topic and related comments at the top. 3. All websites please clean up text, images and sound and videos which attack the Party, State, government agencies, Internet policies with the excuse of this event. 4. All websites please clean up text, images and sound and videos which support Google, dedicate flowers to Google, ask Google to stay, cheer for Google and others have a different tune from government policy. 5. On topics related to Google, carefully manage the information in exchanges, comments and other interactive sessions. Not only are websites required to closely follow the governmental opinion on the subject, but they are to keep conversation in check. No “conversations” or “investigations” are to be held and all related content is not to be placed in a prominent position. In case you’re wondering through all of this what the Chinese government’s take on Google is, exactly, it’s that ” Google Is Not God “. And according to these instructions, this sentiment is something that needs to be repeated by all Chinese media alike. And you thought U.S. media could be a mouthpiece for corporate and governmental interests. Discuss
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China To Media: Toe the Government Line on Google
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It’s Monday and that means that the Interactive portion of SXSW is drawing closer and closer to its close tomorrow after a weekend of great talks, panels, parties and overall hoopla. While some of the most fun parts of SXSW may be behind us, there are still a lot of great things to go see in Austin, especially for those in the startup and entrepreneurship communities. So if you’re looking for some interesting panels to attend before you catch your flight home later this week, here’s a run down of some of the remaining startup-related talks and events. Sponsor This afternoon, a keynote interview with Twitter’s Evan Williams will surely provide any striving entrepreneur with some intriguing insights into his tactics for success. Williams will be joined in Exhibit Hall 1 by Umair Haque of Havas Media Lab at 2pm. Later on in the afternoon, author Clara Shih, whose book The Facebook Era was one of our Weekend Reading suggestions, will be signing copies of her book at the South by Bookstore. The signing starts at 3:20, so get their early and on time because 10 minutes later there is a trio of interesting panels to choose from. At 3:30 in the Radisson Travis, Jason Oberfest of ngmoco and Eroc Eldon of Inside Network will be presenting on how online games can take advantage of social media. We’ve seen a lot of interesting developments in web-based gaming lately, especially with the success of Zynga on Facebook. New technologies are making in-browser games much more powerful than anything we’ve seen before, and the opportunities to tie social networking into the experience make the possibilities for startups in this genre very promising. If gaming isn’t your cup of tea, head on over to the Courtyard Rio Grande A to see Elizabeth Hallmark and Drew Scherz of Texas Comptroller speak on ” Building Happy and High Performing Teams .” This is similar to a topic discussed by David Russo in his book 17 Rules Successful Companies Use to Attract and Keep Top Talent , which we also profiled in our Weekend Reading series. But stealing the 3:30 time-slot might be a discussion of the future of incubators with some startup super-stars. Naval Ravikant of Venture Hacks, David Cohen of TechStars and Paul Graham of Y Combinator will join a few others to discuss what they call the “Seed Combinator,” but really startups and entrepreneurs could glean value from anything these guys chose to talk about, so don’t miss it. After those panels, pick up and walk over to the Hilton at 5pm for what should be a fascinating discussion about customer service in the world of today’s social networks . This five-member panel including Jeremiah Owyang, CNET ‘s Caroline McCarthy, and executives from Microsoft, HP and Comcast should shed some light on how customer support has evolved “in a 140 character world.” Tomorrow morning, as the Interactive portion closes out, entrepreneurs may want to stop by Ballroom A at 9:30 for a discussion on protyping web applications . Are wire-frames and mock-ups going the way of the Dodo? Darren Delave and Michael Leggett of Google think so, and will present on ways “make and present prototypes to improve all stages of the design and development cycle.” But the real issue every startup and entrepreneur wants to know about is how to get money from investors. At 3:30 tomorrow in Hilton A/B, don’t miss legendary investor Reid Hoffman and Justin Fishner-Wolfson of Founders Fund present on “Getting Your Company Funded .” The talk promises to debunk the myths and questions behind VC funding, term sheets, options, liquidation, “much much more.” And finally, a good way to close out the festivities is to check out day 2 of the Microsoft BizSpark Accellerator competition at the Hilton. You can stop by and check out the companies which present throughout the day, but come back at 6pm to see which of the 12 finalists will be crowned this year’s winners. And if you aren’t in Austin, you can still watch for free online at the Accellerator homepage (granted you have Silverlight installed, of course). Also, remember that everyone at SXSW is tweeting like crazy at all of these events and discussions, so use Twitter search to find out more information if you can’t make it to each event. Each event’s description on the SXSW homepage also includes the official hashtag for the event so you can easily see what people are saying about it on Twitter. If you have any other suggestions for startups and entrepreneurs at SXSW, let us know in the comments. Photos by Flickr users toprankonlinemarketing , and magerleague . Discuss
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What’s Left For Startups At SXSW?
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A ReadWriteWeb Guide Ever since its inception, the Internet has blurred the boundaries between author and audience. Whether you’re a blogger, a pillar of the printed word, a podcast coinnaseur or a developer dealing with the latest CMS, navigating the next step in Internet publishing can be a feat. So, hit up these 10 events at SXSW Interactive 2010 to say goodbye to Gutenberg and hello to the interactive, multimedia, real-time, crowdsourced and community-funded future of online publishing. Sponsor This is part of a series of ReadWriteWeb guides to SXSW Interactive 2010. If this guide isn’t your cup of tea, be sure to check back for more information soon! ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Wanna ditch that desk job for the cubicle-less life of a professional blogger? What better way to kick off your SXSW Interactive 2010 than with a book reading from the editor and founder behind ProBlogger , Digital-Photography-School.com , and Twitip , three blogs that collectively reach over 3 million unique readers a month. Before you get into any panels predicting the death of this or that, let’s start off with how you’re going to start a blog and become rich, wealthy and wise. The Revenge Of Editorials If book readings aren’t your bag, then how about a workshop on how to get to the bottom of all this content we create by the second? “As the Internet has accelerated the creation of all types of content, it’s become more and more difficult to sift through that content and find something of quality. We’ve tried it with machines and even mass consensus but the results are either wrong or lowest common denominator. The irony in all this is that we really need other humans to help us. The vast breadth of content on the Web only highlights what we’ve always relied upon: the valued opinion of others.” Critical Tits: Rights, Cameras and the Immediacy Age What happens when every member of an audience suddenly becomes an author? Eyes from every angle and a battle over the right to create versus the right to privacy. Come watch as CNET News ‘ Daniel Terdiman and Burning Man’s Andie Grace surely take two separate sides on this issue. “The EFF recently argued that Burning Man’s not as open or nurturing as people think, and uses the DMCA to control photographers’ rights. This caused a firestorm of controversy, forcing Burning Man to say its interests are protecting its trademark and attendees from being exploited by unscrupulous photographers. This panel will explore the tensions and the legal/community issues this controversy raised.” Funding Your Projects from the Crowd “Crowdfunding inverts much that is wrong with traditional funding by breaking down the barrier between creators and audiences, and turning fundraising into a interactive experience. This panel brings together several perspectives from the world of crowdfunding to explain different approaches to raising money from the audience for bloggers, artists, podcasters, developers, filmmakers, musicians, and more.” Wikipedia Gets an Upgrade: Collaborative Video We can’t really get away with talking about the wild world of online publishing without mentioning one of the founding fathers of all that is interactive and communal – Wikipedia . But can Wikipedia really take the next step and go to video? “Wikipedia is the most successful collaborative experiment in human history. Now it’s getting a big upgrade: video. OGG Theora video paired with open source tech by Kaltura is evolving the wiki and prompting some big questions. Can wiki video work as well as wiki text? What does video mean to the Wikipedia community? How long until Grandma can hop in and improve the video entry on her favorite old crooner?” Transmedia 2010: Are We There Yet? While we’re at it, not only have we left the printing press in the dust, but our standard categorization and assembly of media may be on the way out too. So, let’s throw the baby out with the bathwater and get to talking transmedia . And you thought Wikipedia might be complicated. “The promise and possibilities of transmedia storytelling have been on the horizon for several years. The concept involves immersive storytelling that utilizes multiple media outlets concurrently to enhance and advance the narrative. Some see this as a better way of totally involving an ever more fragmented and distracted audience. So join us for a “late breaking” assessment of the state of the movement. Has transmedia finally arrived?” ReadWriteWeb’s Party Continuing along with the idea of traditional and less-traditional media, we’d love it if you stopped by our party on Sunday night! We’re cohosting with NPR, PBS and a few others at KLRU’s Legendary Austin City Limits Studio. We’ll have live bands, Tex-Mex nosh, margaritas – the quintessential Austin experience. Free shuttles will be available at the Hilton. How To Save Journalism With Drew Curtis of Fark , Jeff Webber of USAToday , Kelly McBride of The Poynter Institute and Matthew Palevsky of The Huffington Post , find out how the Internet is going to save, not kill, jouarnalism. “Much has been said about the death of journalism, but little has been offered in way of solutions. This panel will focus on solutions instead of problems, consensus viewpoints from both old and new media, and offer new insights into the operational structure of journalism and media for the 21st century.” A Brave New Future for Book Publishing Bringing it back down to a realm we’ve almost forgotten, what about the life of the good old book? What’s coming next? Will we break out of the binding? “Call SXSW 2009′s infamous ”New Think for Old Publishers” (aka ”Geeks School New York”) a missed opportunity. How did book publishing become the last media industry to embrace digital and how will this change? New publishing models, strategy and a brave future for books and we who love them.” R.I.P. Content Management System What better way to end your SXSW 2010 with a timely prediction of the death of CMS as we know it? “The medium is the message. On the web, the medium is community. This shift has made legacy CMS products as outdated as scribes and printing presses. Open source technologies are disrupting this market and moving into mainstream enterprises. Join Drupal founder Dries Buytaert as he discusses how social publishing will bring content and community together.” Those are our SXSW Interaction recommendations for publishers of all stripes. If you’ve got suggestions or feedback, let us know in the comments! See you in Austin, folks! Discuss
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SXSW 2010 for Publishers
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Sony just announced that it is expanding its selection of newspapers and magazines in its e-book store. Starting today, users of Sony’s e-readers will be able to subscribe to 20 new newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury News, PC Magazine and Foreign Affairs. With the newspaper business in turmoil, it only makes sense for these papers to try to get a better foothold on more devices. Sponsor eInk vs. LCDs For users who don’t own an e-reader yet but are looking into getting one, the question right now is to either wait for the iPad and go with a regular LCD screen for reading books, or to choose a more traditional (and cheaper) e-reader like the Kindle or Sony Reader that feature electronic ink. While some users don’t mind the blacklit LCD screens of their phones to read, others can’t fathom reading any long-form content on these screens. Fighting Off the iPad For Sony, Amazon, B&N and others who are currently betting on electronic ink for their devices, one of the best ways to distinguish themselves from Apple is to offer more content over their free wireless connections and to play up the advantages of eInk. In this context, adding a newspaper like the New York Times (which is also a favorite of Steve Jobs and features heavily in Apple’s iPad ads and other promotional material ) makes a lot of sense. For the newspapers, getting on more devices and selling more subscriptions is simply good business. Sony charges up to $14.99 per month for these subscriptions. Given that all of these papers could sell their own apps and subscriptions on the iPad as well – and that some of them will be available for free – the availability of newspapers may not be a deciding factor for a lot of potential iPad and e-reader buyers. Hopefully, however, we will also see a lot of innovative newspaper and magazine apps on the iPad. Chances are that these new apps will make today’s traditional e-readers seem rather quaint in comparison. The availability of these apps could easily sway a lot of potential e-reader buyers to get an iPad instead. What is your experience? Do you think e-books and newspapers just look better on eInk? Or are you waiting for the innovative newspaper apps on the iPad that will include video and other interactive content? Discuss
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Sony Brings More Newspaper and Magazine Content to its E-Readers
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