Off the Wire(d)

Wired -- the brand, magazine and online publication is now tapping into the tablet market. It is no surprise that Wired, the trustworthy tech related news source is dominating the digital distribution game.

Just this past Friday, Wired Magazine CEO, Chris Anderson lead a demonstration at the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference where he presented a six-month in the making tablet application. Wired, which is known for “breaking the rules for print”, has collaborated with Adobe to create an interactive interface where subscribers can read, watch and participate with the magazine. 

Delighted by the tablet technology, Anderson announced that “we are entering a new era of media, where we finally have a digital platform that allows us to retain all the rich visual features of high-gloss print, from lavish design to glorious photography, while augmenting it with video, animations, additional content and full interactivity.”

Next month's issue will be the first for readers to access Wired via the tablet application. Seeing as how the iPad’s release date is also around the corner, I doubt this is just a timely coincidence. However, in case you are not dazzled by Apple’s iPad, all Adobe AIR applications will be compatible with Flash to satisfy your alternate tablet needs.

What is most impressive is that the design team tweaked their preexisting pages, produced with Adobe InDesign (the standard program used for many magazine publications) to orient their layout so that the user can interact with the articles and advertisements.

It may only be a matter of time before other publications fallow suit and offer their own tailor made Adobe AIR application.  Although a magazine subscription for a tablet would be much cheaper, I am not convinced that impressive graphics and interactivity are enough to entice the average reader to give up their print subscription for a digital one.


 I can’t see every magazine benefiting form this sort of thing. After all, a copy of Vogue would not be as enchanting without its stacked spine, glossy pages and fragrant perfume samples.

A Job Well Done Steve

After reading this article, I am officially sold on Apple's latest creation, the iPad. At first I figured it was just another gadget to temporarily satisfy the Techie’s unquenchable cravings for upgrades and innovation.

 I’ve been duped, yet again, first with the iPod, then with the iMac. Without these things I feel incomplete, as if they are an appendage and imperative to my well being. Sure it may sound a bit extreme, but a day without my iPod would result in some very long and awkwardly silent bus rides. I’d be hard pressed to choose wether I’d rather forget my lunch or my iPod. 

Apple is notorious for creating a lack in the mind of the consumer while simultaneously filling that void with sleek user-friendly electronics. If the iPad were just a jazzed up version of a reader, I can’t say I’d be overly excited about it. Sure carting around books can be cumbersome, but it’s not troubling enough to justify spending money on a  reader. I actually enjoy the tactile experience of reading; I like holding a book and physically turning the pages. It wasn’t until I had a conversation with a fellow Apple enthusiast that I learned that the iPad simulates the act of reading a book, “you can turn pages and highlight” he told me. After hearing this I was impressed, but not yet convinced that the iPad was a practice purchase. 

What really caught my attention was that Apple signed a deal with major publishing companies for its iBook application, which at the very least, could cause an inevitable collapse of Amizon’s Kindle. Now with the choke hold on the e-book industry, Apple has set a new precedent for the way we consume text. This is similar to the Napster era, where downloading ushered in a demand for Mp3 players and Mp3 players, encouraged more downloading, legally and illegally. Seeing as how scanning pages from a book is a much more strenuous procedure than ripping music files, I can’t imagine iPad users will habitually download e-book torrents. 

The iPad, is more than just a reader that can hold your school textbooks. I think Apple's multimedia tablet could  revolutionize what it means to be a student. Just recently, Apple’s iPad SDK revealed that the device has the capability to: entertain video conferencing, synch up network printing, hook up to HD external displays and share a workspace with a desktop. Speaking as a student, presentations and group work have never sounded so enticing.

 Thanks Apple -- life just got a lot easier.  

Why Local Matters

The thought of my community without local television is a disconcerting one. This past year I’ve held my breath, hoping that Waterloo Region would not be affected by the budget cuts which have befallen broadcasters in communities not far from my own. Now, with local television under review by the CRTC, the reality is that we too could be burdened with budget cuts, or worse -- community television termination.

Television is one of several ways we stay connected with our local community. Even though technology has ushered in new ways for audiences to gather news and entertainment, I believe that local television is a fundamental part of our identity as a community. 

Local content acts as an equalizer that puts our stories on par with nationally broadcasted media. We are made to feel that our lives are newsworthy and no less important than everything else we watch on TV. At the same time, watching our friends, neighbors and community leaders at the forefront of our televised news and entertainment speaks to us on personal level. It also reinforces that we as citizens have agency in the media we consume-- we are just as much a part of the news as we are in producing it.

“The future of local TV and the financial health of the broadcast television industry in Canada may rest with community television, and initiatives to reinforce the creation and distribution of local community programming.”     mediacastermagazine.com

Have you given your two cents yet?