Rolling Stone bends, preps iPad magazines
updated 05:00 pm EST, Mon November 28, 2011
Rolling Stone to have first iPad app December 1
Rolling Stone's publisher Wenner Media has become one of the later big print magazine outlets to modernize and produce iPad magazine apps. Starting out modestly with a $10 app version of The Beatles: The Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide on December 1, Wenner plans versions of both Rolling Stone and of US Weekly for early 2012. The Beatles app will be enhanced with song samples and interviews, but the full magazines will be same-as-print editions adapted largely untouched.
No mention has been made of support for Android tablets for at least the Beatles app.
The entry comes after founder Jann Wenner accused other publishers of a panicked rush into tablet apps. Although not completely averse to tablets, he has been one of the most conservative and has argued that print still has a large amount of life left. He saw there primarily being issues of an overeagerness to accept less than ideal terms as well as image quality gaps.
It's not known what made Wenner reconsider. Apple's launch of iOS 5 may have tipped the balance, as other major publishers have seen sales climb quickly ever since Newsstand both gave them a more prominent place and simplified the subscription process. Also, while Amazon and Barnes & Noble are hoping to support digital magazines, their small screen sizes have left Apple as the only one with a truly successful tablet format large enough to display magazines closer to their native layout. [via mocoNews]
