New Yorker confirms iPad magazine, enlists Adobe's help
updated 04:15 pm EDT, Wed June 23, 2010
New Yorker to share Wired's iPad mag platform
The New Yorker confirmed late Tuesday that it was working on an iPad magazine app. The new magazine will use the same Adobe Digital Magazine platform that powers the pioneering app for Wired's edition rather than the Conde Nast equivalent being used for other magazines with the publisher. One WWD source justified it as noticeably superior Conde Nast's app, which is designed to translate relatively easily to other platforms.
"You turn everything over, and they roll you into this kit," the anonymous contact said. "Editors want to be in control of their product making."
The Adobe process is designed to work around Apple's restrictions on cross-compiling tools and merges raw layouts from InDesign CS5 into a native iPad app container. It results in very large magazines that can crest 500MB per issue but also lets the magazine authors focus on layout while still including video and interactive elements like charts and object exploration.
A New Yorker jump to the iPad would represent a significant shift for magazines, which have only just begun switching to the tablet form factor with the iPad, but could also prove a test of Apple's policies for the App Store. While Apple has relented lately on sexuality and politics in content, the New Yorker's leader David Remnick has made it clear he wouldn't censor any content at Apple's request.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2010
Big mistake...
It would be a big mistake to take the same approach as that used with WIRED!
The WIRED magazine was just a bunch of pictures of magazine pages-- the text could not be resized, searched, annotated, etc.
The app file size was many times that if actual text were used.
And with all the attention to creating "beautiful, distinctive" text-- it just looked really bad!