On the one hand I'm very excited by this; I see Marco as an interesting writer/speaker, when it comes to iOS development or when he geeks out about whatever gear he's recently bought. I also expect him to be a great editor, so I'd gladly pay money for a magazine put together by him.<p>But on the other hand...I'm really wondering why this needs to be an iOS app. Written content is perfect for publishing on the web, I really don't think you'll be running into any speed issues when you release this as a web magazine. And even if you would, why not make the content available both native and on the web?<p>I'm aware that Marco is an iOS developer, and that a lot of his readers (myself included) will have iOS devices, but for the sake of the open web I'm still slightly disappointed.
I was very excited about this, so I tried installing it on my iPhone 4S, with iOS5, and it says:<p><pre><code> This app requires iOS 6.
</code></pre>
Really?! <i>Already??</i> :( I didn't upgrade because I want to keep my maps app. I hope Marco changes it to be iOS 5-compatible, since I know a lot of people who aren't upgrading to iOS 6 until it has decent maps.
Next months cover story "Defending my choice of iOS to launch this magazine"<p>I am amused that by appealing to the tech audience Marco set his release up to be nitpicked not for content or concept but by platform choice. Fitting but almost too meta.
Sounds good, I'd love to give it a try, but it appears to be tied to iOS. Confining what appears be minimalist text content to an app on a single platform seems a bit silly.
I would be all over this if there was a Kindle option. I don't like reading on LCD screens, especially when I have a gadget that is 100% dedicated to reading.
This looks like material that I'd really like to read. Unfortunately I have no way to access it, since I don't own an iOS device.<p>I wonder why Marco wants to limit his readership to relatively small intersection between iOS 6 device owners and people who are interested in the subject matter. Isn't this rather restricting for him?<p>(edit: iOS 6)
Am I completely crazy or is there no way to cancel a subscription? I subscribed, but only to give it a shot during the 7 day trial. Currently it is set to auto-renew and charge me $1.99 after 7 days.<p>edit: Found out how to do it <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4098" rel="nofollow">http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4098</a><p>What a RIDICULOUS process. I shouldn't have to google to find out how to do it in the first place.
<i>It publishes four articles every two weeks for $1.99 per month with a 7-day free trial.</i><p>If I get a 7-day trial, how do I know that those 7 days will coincide with the 14 day article release cycle? This doesn't line up, as though it were designed to be confusing.<p>That sentence is worded strangely - talking about a future project you're organizing as though it's an object of someone else's which already exists. It sounds impersonal and odd. How about:<p><i>"The Magazine will publish eight articles per month at a price of $1.99, and we offer a one week free trial."</i>
For those of you wondering why The Magazine is on iOS (first) and not a website, the answer is simple. Marco is just replicating the successful Instapaper business model:<p><a href="http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-Readability-and-Instapaper-business-models-How-do-they-differ/answer/Marco-Arment" rel="nofollow">http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-Readability-and-Instapaper...</a>
Try searching for "The Magazine" in the App Store. Shows you how well Apple's search algorithms work. App Store SEO is a black box, and I'm not even sure how Marco would improve his ranking with a name like "The Magazine."
*Note - iPad 1 can see the app in the App Store, but can't use it as it requires iOS 6.
Obviously Marco's business plan will be to build up anticipation and demand on other platforms and announce them over time. But I don't see how that will work if the content stays invisible. He will probably need to periodically release sample articles on the web to generate buzz, notice he already did this for the Foreword article.
I figured I'd try it out, but lost my enthusiasm after unsuccessfully attempting to search for the app for five minutes.<p>Next time pick a distinctive name.
I've just been looking through the most popular Newsstand apps, and it suddenly occurred to me what's wrong with it: all the thumbnails are of print magazine covers, and they're all too small to read! If that doesn't scream "doing it wrong" I don't know what does.<p>The cover's meant to advertise the issue and make me want to buy it and I can't even read it. Why does Newsstand not have a "In this issue" tab when you preview the app? Why do I have to buy the whole issue instead of just an article? Why can't I have a central list of articles, that I can search, and favourite and share? The Newsstand API isn't aggressive enough. It needs to bring these publications into the future before we lose them.<p>Traditional print publications, which are producing quality journalism, need to adapt to new technology and release something like what Marco's doing here instead of trying to cram their paper format into an app with all the cruft that that entails.
I'll be downvoted for saying it, but this may be where the bloom comes off Marco's rose.<p>And, this comment's relevant to the HN crowd: most (if not all) successful entrepreneurs owe something to outside factors, but can develop a sort of "survivorship bias," whereby they feel like they're unduly sierra hotel.<p>Marco made a great app in Instapaper. Is his business and tech sector acumen as good as Instapaper?<p>We'll see.
First - this is easily, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one the best online Magazine App for the iPad. It's ironic how Time, New Yorker, Popular Mechanics, National Geographic - all offer such horrible experiences that I've deleted them from my iPad. Only NYT and "The Economist" aren't totally crappy (Though neither of them download in that background on my iOS 6 iPad 3... Grrr - But I bet Marco's App supports background downloading.)<p>Second - The article on Volatiles and Stables was worth an entire years subscription by itself. Marco made it easy for us to copy/paste the text - didn't trap the content like all those crappy magazine systems normally do. I've been madly copying that article and forwarding it to everyone in the company, with a prominent link to "The Magazine".<p>I'm guessing that He'll get at least 10 <i>direct</i> new subscriptions through me alone. WHo knows how many indirect subscriptions...
This could be great. Most digital magazines are terrible; while this won't solve the biggest problem (the magazine itself is a superior technology for reading), it could go a long ways towards a better reading experience. NEW YORKER I'M LOOKING AT YOU.
Is there any chance the writing will be any good, compared to the long-standing, excellent journalism that already exists? I'll keep getting my quality journalism from New Yorker, The Nation, The Guardian, etc.
> a modern iOS Newsstand publication for geeks like us that’s loosely about technology, but also gives tech writers a venue to explore other topics that like-minded geeks might find interesting.<p>Maybe there's a market for magazine type media. It seems so backwards and nostalgic. Print imposed restrictions on size, format, timelyness, access, single voice (no comments), among others. The description of "The Magazine" sounds like what HN or Reddit already is.<p>Also something so pretentious to call itself "The Magazine" is gonna be filled with poseur hacks. Wired already fills that role.
I believe that content should be written for a platform. Which is why putting magazines on newsstand by putting images in an application hasn't sold well. This content targets the iOS using audience and is written for the format.<p>The tools iOS provide will at least allow them to test if selling an iOS only publication works.
> <i>Read this, plus more, in The Magazine’s app for iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch®. Start your free, 1-week trial.</i><p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/bINgC.png" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/bINgC.png</a><p>What's with the "®"s? Seems like something Marco would complain about on B&A. (Also, that entire button should be clickable.)
The content is basically long-form hacker news, only made worse because now it's 'curated' with whatever lofty theoretical mission 'The Magazine' espouses. Nice looking app but those four articles bored me to the point of canceling my 7 day trial.
I don't see why this could not be released as a web app:<p>1. Access from any device;
2. Charging via PayPal isn't worse if not better than the App Store.
if its for IOS only then I cant access it. Also, I question the "geeks like us" part. Why not just publish it as a downloadable PDF or EPUB or something along those lines ?
><i>Introducing The Magazine: a modern iOS Newsstand publication for geeks like us that’s loosely about technology, but also gives tech writers a venue to explore other topics that like-minded geeks might find interesting.</i><p>So, also boring stuff about brewing coffee and typefaces?