Is This Really The Future of Magazines or Why Didn’t They Just Use HTML 5? ☀

Interesting observation on the Wired app for the iPad:

Why is the magazine so large? Being the intrepid hacker that I am (*wink*) I mounted my jail broken iPad via AppleTalk and quickly tore into the app itself to see how it was constructed. Similar to the PopSci+ magazine application, each Wired issue is actually a bunch of XML files that lay out a bunch of images. And by “a bunch of images” I mean 4,109 images weighing in at 397MB.

Each full page is a giant image – there are actually two images for each page: one for landscape and one for portrait mode. Yes, I’m laughing on the inside too. There is no text or HTML, just one gigantic image. The “interactive” pieces where you can slide your finger to animate it are just a series of JPG files. When you press play on the audio file and see the progress meter animate? A series of PNG files.

On the one hand I can see the point but on the other hand I have to wonder what he expected? Surely as publishing for the iPad matures, the manner in which the “magazine” is constructed will change over time.

I cannot help but wonder what he expected as far as the so-called interactivity. Surely Wired could have done some really cool things had they opted to, but I suspect they were more interested in focusing on displaying advertising and the content they created for the magazine – the articles themselves.

It is easy to laugh at an app weighing in at 4000+ images costing almost 400MB in download size. But to criticize without nary a suggestion other than using HTML 5? Consider me unimpressed with the feedback even though I am, too, completely underwhelmed with the Wired app offering.

  • http://blocsonic.com Michael Gregoire

    Actually, the web has been here for how long? The print publishing industry is just as ambivalent to the web medium as it was when it became clear that it would be a major contender for subscription dollars. So, to say that “Surely as publishing for the iPad matures, the manner in which the ‘magazine’ is constructed will change over time.” is naive. If they're using sliced images today, in 2010, they DON'T get it and never will. I do get why interfacelab is questioning Wired's method of delivery.

    I actually find it ironic that a magazine called “Wired” still doesn't get the web.

  • http://techmiso.com Scott Jarkoff

    I see your point, however how would you suggest they deliver the content early in the life of the app, without spending a huge amount of cash on an unproven delivery mechanism?