Magazines with Zinio on ipad looks SOOOOO good!!

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Crowl

I don't know if you get them in the states, but certainly in the uk you often have magazines producing a normal edition and a pocket-sized version and the layouts seem fine even on the magazine that is half the size of the other.

I haven't seen that in the US. There are different sized magazines of course, but I can't think of any magazines that have different sized versions of the same issue etc.

The problem with Zinio on iPad is I'm not willing to scroll around pages. I want it all displayed and readable on one screen.

But again that's more a limitation of screen size and why I'm holding out for an 11-12" tablet. I don't care about portability, I want something I can work with documents, magazines etc. without having to scroll around.

I am happy to see enhanced content, but if you aren't actually interested enough in the content to consider buying the paper magazine then enhanced presentation probably isn't going to be enough to win people back.

I can't speak for everyone, but it would help with me.

A big problem is websites have long sense surpassed magazines. For instance, I saw little reason to keep paying for Newsweek when I could get all the articles PLUS extra content, videos, audio etc. on Newsweek.com for free.

But I'd be interested in a Tablet version of the magazine that was optimized to take advantage of the tablet format as I don't really like reading articles on the internet much--at least not on a PC or Laptop. I'll deal with it vs. paying for a paper magazine that just gets chucked in the recycling bin in a day or two. But if they could get a tablet version done well I'd probably pay for it again.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I haven't seen that in the US. There are different sized magazines of course, but I can't think of any magazines that have different sized versions of the same issue etc.

In the uk there do seem to be a fair number of magazines that also publish a smaller edition (seems to be a5 rather than a4), they are not widely available, but the ones I have bought seem perfectly readable so there is plenty of scope to fit content to screensize without the need to zoom.

[dmaul1114]

Sure, in that case they need to just not be lazy and send Zinio the big print version but make a smaller electronic version (like you get in the UK in print) to improve readability so we're not left with a bunch of clunky zooming or scrolling on devices like the iPad.

Though I'd still prefer them just make magazines in HTML so they can just reflow and rescale to different screen sizes like web pages do.

[Crowl]

It does seem like that should be their approach really as it is in their best interest to make something look as good as possible on whatever device somebody ends up getting.

[Fotoman]

Another update today...1.5 now. They added the ability to delete the thumbnails of mags as well as the file, yay.

I contacted them and they told me that they're updating their older magazine archives--I guess the files need some massaging for iPad formatting--and the thumbnail appears in the library of the app when ready. Mine go as far back as last November now.

Gotta like their customer support and frequency of updates.

Funny thing... some of the mags you can get with Zinio can now also be bought as stand-alone apps direct from the publishers for 2-5 times more than the Zinio subscription price (eg. Maxim stand-alone for $2.99 vs. ~ $0.75/issue through Zinio)

[The Old Man]

Popular Science was available on Zinio immediately after the iPad was launched. Then it dropped out. Now a separate app at $4.99 per issue. Time mag has done the same thing. I sure hope not too many buy these individual apps at these prices. I like Zinio a lot.

Yes, their customer support is good. They have replied to my inquiries.

[athlonkmf]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Popular Science was available on Zinio immediately after the iPad was launched. Then it dropped out. Now a separate app at $4.99 per issue. Time mag has done the same thing. I sure hope not too many buy these individual apps at these prices. I like Zinio a lot.

Yes, their customer support is good. They have replied to my inquiries.

So was men's health I think. I wonder what happened if you bought the subscription and a month later they pulled it away from zinio. Do you get a refund?

[ficbot]

I am very tempted to get a subscription to something. It is a smaller format in paper anyway and I like the idea that I can keep the issues instead of recycling like I do with paper. A few questions though, the iPad help screen was not very detailed.

1) Does it let you have control over individual magazine issues? For example I don't want it deciding on its own that enough time has passed and I am done with it and have it delete the issue for me. I want the option to keep the issue forever if I want to.

2) If I do want to keep an issue for reference but want to transfer it to my computer for use/backup instead of reading it on the iPad, is this do-able? If so, in what format will the magazine be and how will I open it up on the computer?

3) ow does it notify you when a new issue is ready? Or are you supposed to keep track of that yourself?

I guess I am just wary of being locked into some sort of DRM scheme here. I am used to buying ebooks and 'liberating' them. If these files are really PDF files (or can be made so) then great, but I am worry about spending hundreds of dollars on something I may be locked out of later.

[athlonkmf]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I am very tempted to get a subscription to something. It is a smaller format in paper anyway and I like the idea that I can keep the issues instead of recycling like I do with paper. A few questions though, the iPad help screen was not very detailed.

1) Does it let you have control over individual magazine issues? For example I don't want it deciding on its own that enough time has passed and I am done with it and have it delete the issue for me. I want the option to keep the issue forever if I want to.

2) If I do want to keep an issue for reference but want to transfer it to my computer for use/backup instead of reading it on the iPad, is this do-able? If so, in what format will the magazine be and how will I open it up on the computer?

3) ow does it notify you when a new issue is ready? Or are you supposed to keep track of that yourself?

I guess I am just wary of being locked into some sort of DRM scheme here. I am used to buying ebooks and 'liberating' them. If these files are really PDF files (or can be made so) then great, but I am worry about spending hundreds of dollars on something I may be locked out of later.

1) you can manage your mags yourself. Delete them when you want to do, but you can also redownload them if you want to.

2) you can't transfer from the iPad, but you can download the mag again on your desk to using the desktop reader. You can in fact download anywhere,as much as you want, on any machine you have.

3) you get an email if new issues are available

[ficbot]

Thank you! I think I am going to go ahead and get Everyday Food. Good price! And it's a small magazine anyway (the page size is book sized, not magazine sized) so I bet it would look good.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Thank you! I think I am going to go ahead and get Everyday Food. Good price! And it's a small magazine anyway (the page size is book sized, not magazine sized) so I bet it would look good.

I generally buy one issue of the magazine I'm considering and then, if I like it, subscribe for the year. This way I know how the mag presents itself on Zinio before spending a bunch of bucks.

[ficbot]

Update: I got it and it looks GREAT! Te best part is, each page is fairly self-contained so if there is one I really want to keep, I can get a perfect clip of it using the screenshot feature. I bet if I can figure out how to get the resulting photo onto my computer, I could even put it in Evernote for referencing...

[mgmueller]

I've got about 300 old issues, 1 to 3 years old.
Some of them I find in my account and can re-download them on iPad.
But most of them are missing.
Zinio basically has 2 statements:
- No adult content because of Steve Jobs' "porn free" announcement.
- Lots of issues aren't prepared yet.
Is there any way to use those old issues in the meantime?
I've still got the files on Mac and PC.
I wouldn't mind about bad formatting or something like that.

The only solution I'm aware of: Snapshots on Mac/PC and generating PDFs.

[scottjl]

I guess jobs never saw an issue of Maxim or FHM.

[tyche]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Update: I got it and it looks GREAT! Te best part is, each page is fairly self-contained so if there is one I really want to keep, I can get a perfect clip of it using the screenshot feature. I bet if I can figure out how to get the resulting photo onto my computer, I could even put it in Evernote for referencing...

When I plug my iPad into my Windows pc, it appears as a "digital camera" drive and I can copy pictures from it.