iMagworld

Imagine joining all the publishing houses together on one digital platform that will support every conceivable device from mobiles to PCs.

The publishers of over 50 leading magazines have taken the bold step and include heavyweights such as Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst and publish journals such as; The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Esquire and O, The Oprah Magazine and many more. The concept is about creating a iMags with the ability to supply digital and physical renditions in one common store – an iTunes for Magazines.

The venture is still to be officially formed but will create a new company and organisation to support it with John Squires, executive vice president at Time Inc., becoming its interim executive whilst the search is on for a new permanent executive.
The logic behind the new venture is that collectively the magazine publisher reduce their risk, stop competing on high cost and risk technology and create a collective that should prove a one stop shop and attractive to consumers.

Creating device interoperable content is going to be a challenge as what consumers want on a mobile will be different to a notebook or PC. Colour will also be a major factor and eInk magazines will certainly look and feel very retro. This is not an easy challenge but it is interesting that the publishers have chosen to work together to crack it and not merely give the ground over to one of the new technology entrants. Could this happen in the book world? We already have Coursesmart trying to do something similar but its hard to see the trade sector collaborating when there is so many options available and reasons not to.