The question many non-iPad users have is what is the point? Is the iPad any better than a computer? What does it do that is so special?
The iPad has proven to be very useful to many. Those who own one praise the device for many different reasons. It’s a handy mini computer or, 'giant iPhone' if you will, with both WiFi and 3G capabilities. It’s great for both work and personal use. Many use it for sending e-mails, surfing the web, playing games, or to do work, but one of the number one reasons people love the iPad is for the App Store that comes with it. The iPad is also a great device at attempting to incorporate print with the Web.
One of the largest selling points with the iPad is iBooks, a free program that allows you to purchase, download, read, and store thousands of books. Many love the idea of digital books because not only is it better for the environment, but it is also a compact way of carrying books. With the iPad also came the introduction of electronic magazines via the App Store. So if books can go digital, then so should magazines, right? Not necessarily…
When the iPad was first introduced just over a year ago, many were unsure of how it would be received. Yet one thing was for sure; there are enough die hard Apple fans out there that it didn’t matter. Any sign of a new product will almost always have Apple fans running out the door to be the first in line.
Media is dependent on the fans and participants for success. This is something that Henry Jenkins explained as convergence:
“Technological convergence is attractive to the media industries because it will open multiple entry points into the consumption process and at the same time, enable consumers to more quickly locate new manifestations of a popular narrative.” (Jenkins, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture)
Apple knew that if they released the tablet they would have enough loyal and curious customers to help the product stay on top, but it isn't only Apple that is looking to profit from the success of the tablet. The release of the iPad also brought with it many new additions to the infamous Apple App Store, and one specific category that stands out is magazines.
Magazines, overall, prove to be visually appealing and friendly, and this is something that might be embraced by the digitally savvy. Apple strung a deal with several magazine companies that now allows users to purchase copies or subscribers to receive their monthly copy via iPad as opposed to a ‘good old’ hard copy. Now it is possible to download magazines through the applications that can be found directly in the App Store. Some magazine Apps are free, such as People and Vogue, but others cost a few dollars, like Vanity Fair. Many of these Apps offer the possibility of incorporating a subscription, but of course there is also the option to pay per copy. Each copy is usually slightly less than the regular newsstand price.
There is definitely something interesting about incorporating a magazine onto a device like the iPad. The goal is to keep magazines alive in such a way that is appealing to the technology-obsessed generation.
The problem with magazines going digital is that they are trying so hard to incorporate the new while maintaining the old, and as a result, the magazine format itself is stuck in a grey area.
We live in a world of immediacy. Thanks to the Internet, anything can be looked up in a matter of seconds. News and entertainment magazines have suffered with the popularity of the Web, as information is now so readily available. By the time each weekly magazine hits the stands, most people who would buy the magazines in the first place are already aware of the news. Unless there is something on the magazine cover to draw the reader in, there isn’t as much of a reason to buy magazines anymore.
Perhaps making magazines digital is an attempt to solve this problem, however, it seems as though the magazines forget they are being used on a device that is heavily connected to the Internet. These magazines come with a prewritten code which cannot be changed by the user, but only through frequent updates. As Matthew Fuller explained with Microsoft Word, these programs are suppose to save us time as it is built with the user in mind. According to Fuller, “software is too often reduced to being simply a tool for the achievement of pre-existing, neutralizing formulated tasks. Culture becomes an engineering problem.” (Fuller, It Looks Like You're Writing a Letter, 162) The e-magazines are, in a sense, limiting as the user must flip through the electronic pages in order to get to where they need to be. It is not so easy to flip back and forth between the pages as it is with real paper, so the user may get frustrated and simply refer to the Internet to find what they are looking for.
“We call the representation of one medium in another remediation.” (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation: Understanding New Media, 45)
The magazines on iPad are interactive, and are designed specifically with the iPad user in mind. They come with extra features that are only digitally possible, such as videos, trailers, and audio features. These are features that would be intriguing to many, however these Apps are also lacking in other departments. Most of these e-magazines attempt to follow the layout of a regular magazine, but this poses some problems.
The electronic magazine incorporates Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin's concepts and is a perfect example of their paradox between the logic of "transparent immediacy” and “hypermediacy”.
“In this sense, a transparent interface would be one that erases itself, so that the user is no longer aware of confronting a medium, but instead stands in an immediate relationship to the contents of that medium.” (Bolter and Grusin, 24)
The electronic magazine is, in a sense, trying to make the user forget they are in the presence of technology as it attempts to recreate the layout of a magazine. It is almost like a trick to the eye, as there is a sense that the user is confronting the reality of a magazine. Since the magazine is remediated onto a tablet, there are immediate perks available. The magazine can be purchased at the click of the button, and it saves time as the user is no longer required to go to the store.
“It is important to note that the logic of transparent immediacy does not necessarily commit the viewer to an utterly naïve or magical conviction that the representation is the same thing as what it represents.” (Bolter and Grusin, 30)
Even though the formatting is very similar to that of a magazine, it is impossible for the user to forget they are in the presence of technology.
“If the logic of immediacy leads one either to erase or to render automatic the act of representation, the logic of hypermediacy acknowledges multiple acts of representation and makes them visible.” (Bolter and Grusin, 34)
Those who purchase electronic magazines tend to be users who enjoy the capacity of media. At the same time as these applications try to maintain the essence of the magazine, they make us conscious of the technological visual representation. The user can still flip through the pages like anyone would with a magazine, but a magazine on an iPad is more interactive due to its’ extra features.
The iPad provides a space for enhancing in a magazine what is impossible without the media technology. The paradox is that they are manifestations of the same desire, as this iPad App attempts to erase traces of mediation at the same time as it builds and incorporates it.
One can’t help but think about what type of effect the electronic magazine is having on the media and entertainment realm. Many transition from print to e-book or e-mag with ease, especially because they promote a greener environment by reducing the use of paper, but others can’t seem to justify putting down the pages or canceling their monthly subscriptions. With the digitization of texts, many are concerned that print will become obsolete. It’s difficult to tell whether or not this is true, but what we do know is that right now, the iPad magazine Apps are becoming more and more intriguing, even if there are a few who disagree. Many just can't seem to resist the idea of technology bringing magazines to life.
