Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sound On Sound Magazine - The Digital Version

The magazine industry, like news papers, is having a tough time as advertising revenue goes online and away from the traditional sources.

Most magazines also have a lot of paid editorial content, or favourable product reviews to advertisers,so  their usefulness is also probably seen to be not what it was.   You maybe better off finding information in forums.

With all that, and that we have also published our own eBook, we have tried an electronic version of something  we still do read, Sound On Sound Magazine.

We have tried their Android App, and purchased a recent issue. on a 10" tablet.

Overall it is a pretty good experience.



The issue we bought for $5, half of the local  news stand price for a 2 month old issue by the time it arrives in Australia from the UK.  If you find an Air freighted copy here, it is more like $22.

So the digital version is cheaper and more up to date.

It was a 151Mbyte download that took about 30 minutes. Not a problem with our cable connection and Studio WiFi.  The time it took isn't a problem either.

The issue I bought only had a couple of samples of sample libraries contained in it, and everything else was a link to a website.  Was pretty cool.

Articles scroll pages vertically, and you go through pages sideways like a normal eBook.  The Table of Contents is also active and you can jump to anywhere in the magazine.

Is it better to have a tablet subscription (your choice of iPad, Android or Kindle Fire )  or just an online subscription?   The improved magazine likeness of the tablet is nice.

I'm thinking maybe just online, it costs the same, and is usable anywhere.  Tablets have a limited life, but the browser will live on... at least it has for all the time I've been online.

I think they need a PC Mac version of thier App, like the Kindle has, then that would sway the choise. That means you would still have access to your magazines when your tablet breaks..... and visa versa.

And this editorial was more interesting than most. Having been involved with the Fairlight development, MIDI and other things.  Most of the time customers don't ask for the next big thing..... and much of the "next big things" that are developed aren't a success EITHER!!!!!!







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