Related Articles
Happy day! Just a few weeks after Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and Time Magazine offered free iPad access to print subscribers, technology mag Wired has made the same move: if you subscribe to the print edition, you get current and back issues in the iPad app, no extra charge.
(Full disclosure: I’m an occasional contributor to Wired.)
That is, of course, the way magazine subscriptions should work. As publishers have discovered, subscribers feel insulted when you ask them to pay twice for content. I know I did.
With Wired, all I had to do was enter my subscriber number (which conveniently arrived in an e-mail) to gain full access to the digital library. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can get one year of the digital edition for $19.99–obviously a much better deal than buying individual issues for $3.99 apiece.
Incidentally, CNET TV called Wired “the best digital magazine on the iPad,” and I’m inclined to agree. The app closely replicates the look–if not the feel–of the print edition, while adding various interactive elements (videos, pop-up extras, and animated graphics) that complement the content rather than distract you from it.
Let’s hope more magazines follow suit, as I’m rapidly growing accustomed to reading both print and digital editions at my leisure. I’m looking at you, Entertainment Weekly and Men’s Health.
What magazines are you hoping to see on your iPad?
