Every page is rendered flat. That's why it's huge and has iffy typography.
See http://informationarchitects.jp/wired-on-ipad-just-like-a-paper-tiger/
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Adobe Announces iPad-Focused Digital Publishing Platform
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Every page is rendered flat. That's why it's huge and has iffy typography.
See http://informationarchitects.jp/wired-on-ipad-just-like-a-paper-tiger/
Apple created a challenge and Adobe met it. There can be peace in the valley. If the new format can be cut back so it isn't a spacehog. Wouldn't it be a hoot if SJ had somebody from Adobe (not CEO whinnypants) do a little demo of the platform at WWDC during the Keynote? I think all woould be cool as long as no one mentioned the F word.
For more of the horrid details of the Wired app:
http://interfacelab.com/is-this-really-the-future-of-magazines-or-why-didnt-they-just-use-html-5/
Isn't this just Adobe throwing something together
in a mad rush because Flash wasn't accepted?
http://interfacelab.com/is-this-really-the-future-of-magazines-or-why-didnt-they-just-use-html-5/
Isn't this just Adobe throwing something together
in a mad rush because Flash wasn't accepted?
Sheesh, they got an iPad version of the magazine out fairly quickly, even if it is a bunch of images strung together. Magazines have loads of images anyway.
The next step is to remove the text and put it on top of the imagery as proper native rendered text.
Unless they move away from a page-oriented, magazine layout, there's probably no need to ever split it up any further. If they did do that however, then there is massive opportunity for semantic linking of content, imagery, and more.
For example it would be nice to tap on an image, and have it expand to full screen, with its caption. Or to tap on a graph, and select interactively what is shown from the underlying data set. Or to have the crossword filled in.
The next step is to remove the text and put it on top of the imagery as proper native rendered text.
Unless they move away from a page-oriented, magazine layout, there's probably no need to ever split it up any further. If they did do that however, then there is massive opportunity for semantic linking of content, imagery, and more.
For example it would be nice to tap on an image, and have it expand to full screen, with its caption. Or to tap on a graph, and select interactively what is shown from the underlying data set. Or to have the crossword filled in.
Enhancement and human factors
So I'm curious how well this is really going to work. I don't think it makes for a very compelling product to take something completely non-interactive, meant for print, and place it on an iPad. It misses a lot of what could make the product compelling to a new generation of consumers.
Yeah, you're going to still read. But what else? Are the links and objects in the page obvious to click? Are magazine ads still static and not animated? Shouldn't I simply be able to embed a web page or at least click-through to their website? Can't I have interactive info-graphics? What about interactive citations, dictionaries, and other information services?
Companies can't just crap out a magazine in PDF format and expect people to pay for it.
So I'm curious how well this is really going to work. I don't think it makes for a very compelling product to take something completely non-interactive, meant for print, and place it on an iPad. It misses a lot of what could make the product compelling to a new generation of consumers.
Yeah, you're going to still read. But what else? Are the links and objects in the page obvious to click? Are magazine ads still static and not animated? Shouldn't I simply be able to embed a web page or at least click-through to their website? Can't I have interactive info-graphics? What about interactive citations, dictionaries, and other information services?
Companies can't just crap out a magazine in PDF format and expect people to pay for it.
Sounds like you haven't seen the Wired app. The adverts include most of the content that you suggested; clear interactive elements, videos that show the TV commercial, links that open Safari separately at the product's website. etc.
It's not perfect but it's slick enough for people to get excited about the potential of digital magazines presented in this way.
In many respects this early effort represents the print industry fumbling their way into a new media. It's a crude first-effort, however I think think it won't take them long to get it much better.
In some ways it reminds me how the major networks struggled to adapt from radio to television; at first it was just radio with pictures.
I don't see how they can. Especially if they want all the bells and whistles. There is a lot of video and pictures in the app.
This is good news from the Adobe camp!!!
I don't know if this is "horrid". It was just a persons thought and opinion on the wired digital mag.
Not just Flash
Its not just Flash according to the developer agreement. Basically it needs to be coded in Objective-C -- no other language is allowed (Flash or otherwise). For Adobe's platform to be allowed it must be an Objective-C Integrated Development Environment targeted at Magazines. It probably has a set of libraries to link to that provide Adobe value-added functionality.
Only problem I have is that with every such magazine you are probably getting ALL the libraries all over again. Hence, Wired magazine was 500MB. To put that in perspective, it is about the same footprint of IBM WebSphere Application Server which includes a complete J2EE platform, tons of client-side libraries for building client apps in the "application client", an HTTP server, and an embedded Derby database.
I can't imagine why Wired Magazine is so darn huge if not for carrying around the entire Adobe platform as luggage.
UPDATE:
So I was wrong regarding the Adobe libraries being the culprit of the huge size. Rather it is the output format the Adobe tools use. As discussed in this link above. Apparently every page is made up of tons of images and some duplicated for landscape and portrait mode. Keep in mind that after downloading the tons of free iBooks from the complete works of Mark Twain and tons of Williams Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austin, etc.... I was concerned about what kind of space would be required by so many of the classics on my iPad. The answer was 95mb. Considering a single issue of Wired takes 500mb it is really really hard to justify using up that much of my storage space.
Its not just Flash according to the developer agreement. Basically it needs to be coded in Objective-C -- no other language is allowed (Flash or otherwise). For Adobe's platform to be allowed it must be an Objective-C Integrated Development Environment targeted at Magazines. It probably has a set of libraries to link to that provide Adobe value-added functionality.
Only problem I have is that with every such magazine you are probably getting ALL the libraries all over again. Hence, Wired magazine was 500MB. To put that in perspective, it is about the same footprint of IBM WebSphere Application Server which includes a complete J2EE platform, tons of client-side libraries for building client apps in the "application client", an HTTP server, and an embedded Derby database.
I can't imagine why Wired Magazine is so darn huge if not for carrying around the entire Adobe platform as luggage.
UPDATE:
So I was wrong regarding the Adobe libraries being the culprit of the huge size. Rather it is the output format the Adobe tools use. As discussed in this link above. Apparently every page is made up of tons of images and some duplicated for landscape and portrait mode. Keep in mind that after downloading the tons of free iBooks from the complete works of Mark Twain and tons of Williams Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austin, etc.... I was concerned about what kind of space would be required by so many of the classics on my iPad. The answer was 95mb. Considering a single issue of Wired takes 500mb it is really really hard to justify using up that much of my storage space.
I think the Wired app will become just that - at a certain point. It's pretty awesome as is right now, but I think eventually it should be just an app. Then inside the app you will be able to subscribe and receive issues as they come out, rather than just a single issue for the entire app. Once they can get that into place, I think drive space won't be as big a deal. You should be able to delete an issue when you are finished reading it. But it will keep track of your purchases so if you ever want to read it again, you could simply download it again. Just as many other services work (Amazon Kindle Books, Audible Audio Books, etc..). Or maybe you can leave the issues on your Mac and simply check which ones you want to read like the way you can sync songs. I'm sure all of this is coming. I think this first issue of Wired is more of a test. As cool as it is, I can't seem every issue being it's own app forever. They'll eventually figure it out so it's more like a book download.
Good on 'ya Adobe for helping to create the Wired app! It didn't even need Flash - whatd'ya know about that!
Good on 'ya Adobe for helping to create the Wired app! It didn't even need Flash - whatd'ya know about that!
here's their app:
export > PNG
tada!
at least that was the WIRED magazine. hopefully there's more to it than that.
export > PNG
tada!
at least that was the WIRED magazine. hopefully there's more to it than that.
I know it's terrible to pimp your own posts (I mean who actually cares) But I suggested in another thread that you would think there is a market here for a program to handle the DTP and slick animations that compiles in C. Seems I wasn't clutching at straws after all!
...format which creates...
OOI, why do you guys read today's Wired? I can't really see its appeal. It seems like a fallback for non-tech types who like to consider themselves at least moderately geeky, but so many web sites allow you to achieve that already. 'sok if you can't access the web at the time, but surely the iPad... etc.
I can certainly understand paying for in-depth tech or social analyses, as with a journal. But
Wired seems mostly ad-filled glossy magazine to me, unless it's changed very recently.
OOI, why do you guys read today's Wired? I can't really see its appeal. It seems like a fallback for non-tech types who like to consider themselves at least moderately geeky, but so many web sites allow you to achieve that already. 'sok if you can't access the web at the time, but surely the iPad... etc.
I can certainly understand paying for in-depth tech or social analyses, as with a journal. But
Wired seems mostly ad-filled glossy magazine to me, unless it's changed very recently.
I normally keep a bunch of magazines from Zinio on my iPad. This new issue of Wired apparently looks terrific, but I agree, when I noticed how big it is, I simply passed. It would have been fine to download it and read it, but from the size perspective I don't think we'll be carrying too many of these magazines with us on our iPads. Hopefully they can somehow optimize the size of future magazines. Until then, I'll continue purchasing my magazines through Zinio.
So Adobe is selling a piece of software that creates giant multimedia PDF files disguised as "apps" that must be run through the AppStore approval process every month and download in their entirety to the iPad?
Brilliant.
AT&T won't let me download a 500MB file (and even if they did, it would still take more than an hour on any 3G network) and any airport or hotel wifi connection is going to choke on a file that size... and I'm supposed to deal with that every month when I'm traveling? For each magazine? LOL!!!
They should create a tool that creates magazine apps like the FT.com iPad App, now there is a great magazine app.
Brilliant.
AT&T won't let me download a 500MB file (and even if they did, it would still take more than an hour on any 3G network) and any airport or hotel wifi connection is going to choke on a file that size... and I'm supposed to deal with that every month when I'm traveling? For each magazine? LOL!!!
They should create a tool that creates magazine apps like the FT.com iPad App, now there is a great magazine app.
I'm still amiss as to why Apple themselves haven't made an iMagazine Development Tool for turning paper magazines into interactive iPad magazines. Anybody?
