Apple Newsstand is making it easier and more efficient for magazine and newspaper lovers worldwide to gain access to their favorite reads.
Simon Wainwright conducted research on how consumers are adapting to the digital age and what it means for the future. While the US still dominates the market with around 42 percent of purchases in Newsstand, that still leaves 58 percent of the market to the rest of the world, with 17 percent coming from the UK. The search function is one of the biggest problems users have with the Newsstand claims Wainwright, saying “it can be a struggle for users to find exactly what they want.”
The biggest pro the Newsstand has going for it is the fact that content is updated faster. Instead of one magazine per month, there might be new content available weekly or even daily. Instead of going to the store, you can just tap “download”.
The days of unfolding huge newspapers are getting shorter as the swipe becomes a preferred method of flipping pages.
Newsweek For Sale
After recently ending print issues and switching to strictly digital, Newsweek was sold in 2010 for $1 and is back on the market again now in 2013. It’s hard to be a news magazine these days. Chistine Haughney and David Carr at The New York Times said “Newsweek buckled under the pressure afflicting the magazine industry in general and newsweeklies in particular, with their outdated print cycles that have been overtaken by the Internet.” Speculators also say that while Newsweek was meant to merge with The Daily Beast, the merge never really came to fruition. Right after the sale went public, CEO of Newsweek & Daily Beast Co. Baba Shetty stepped down. Rhona Murphy will stand in for the time being.
You have to wonder who’s brave enough to pick up a magazine whose revenues were down $8.8 million in the first quarter of this year, and whose subscribers practically dropped off the planet from 1.5million to 450,000 when they had finally ended the print edition. Takers? Anyone?
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Saturday Evening Post Now On Apple Newsstand
The Saturday Evening Post has been around since before America existed – founded in 1821, but strangely first published under another name in 1728 – and will now be featured on Apple Newsstand. It’s only a matter of time before every magazine becomes available digitally, but its worth noting that even some of the oldest and most iconic magazines have yet to make the switch.
The app is a digital replica, created by YUDU. Single issues can be purchased for $3.99 and a one year subscription runs for $9.99.
The Write Life Magazine Come to the Newsstand
Finally! A magazine for people who write! If you haven’t heard about it yet, The Write Life is worth a read. They debuted on May 7th and have fully adapted to the digital age with some very cool multimedia aspects. You can listen to music, watch videos, read articles and essays all while being able to connect through various forms of social media. Something not many magazines have yet to do.
They are a collaborative publishing company who is always searching for new, serious writers. Best of all – The Write Life is a free digital magazine app!
The Loop Is a Hit
The Loop – another free digital magazine – is now available on the Apple Newsstand. For those of you who don’t know about The Loop, they provide news and headlines while also giving “thoughtful and well balanced coverage.” Jim Dalrymple – the main contributor – has spent the last 17 years with MacCentral, Macworld, PC World, Computerworld, Macworld UK and has also made appearances on CNN, Fox, CBS & ABC.
The Loop provides users with high quality new content on a bi weekly basis. They feature topics such as music, games and new technology and have been getting great reviews so far in the app store with 42/58 five star reviews).
