August 28, 2009
Not the future of magazines
While I was away lots was written about Entertainment Weekly’s Pepsi-sponsored use of a small video screen in an upcoming issue (see a preview here). The talk is of Harry Potter/Minority Reports coming real.
I love seeing people try things, my default is to support all attempts at the new, but this example seems absurd to me, as absurd as the above example of mixing technologies. It’s a gimmick along the lines of Esquire’s misguided 75th anniversary front cover, and like that cover the execution seems to take its cue from the worst part of the digital experience – the brushing aside of the need for a good idea in the rush to achieve a technological first.
2 Comments
Comment on August 28, 2009 by Robert Newman says:
Amen brother. Both examples are corny gimmicks, no better than the greeting cards my daughters get that play happy birthday on a little chip when you open them up. Big deal. If this is the best that the best minds in the magazine business can come up with in the name of innovation….
Comment on September 1, 2009 by Pinky says:
Companies who produce throw-away rubbish like this, with such a huge print run, should be forced to pay a tax back into a fund for climate change. Gluing in crap like video screens means the magazine can’t even be recycled. A pathetic last gasp effort to align a print model with withering advertising revenue.
