
Hacker Monthly can now be shipped anywhere in the world - terpua
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/magazines_on_the_ipad_hps_magcloud_makes_it_a_one-.php
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asnyder
_I told HP's Andrew Bolwell that what I really wanted were magazines priced
like iPhone apps. Give me really good $2 magazines and I'll buy them all day
long. A $10 magazine on the iPad? Probably not._

It's very hard for me to understand this. If you enjoy the magazine, if it's
"really good" why wouldn't you pay more than $2? At what point does the
cannibalization of content stop? If it's convenient to use an iPad or a Kindle
to get your magazine, shouldn't that be enough at the normal price point? Why
is further incentive necessary? I can understand a slight discount due to
publishing savings, but from $10 to $2? Come on.

~~~
nopassrecover
Pricing isn't based on cost but on perceived value. The perceived value of a
physical version of a magazine is much greater, particularly as many wouldn't
consider a virtual magazine a complete product.

~~~
asnyder
Why wouldn't you consider a virtual magazine a complete product? Even when you
buy a magazine in physical form you're paying for the content. Personally, I
never go to a newsstand and base my purchase on the physical properties of the
magazine, but rather, the content, articles, and design.

One way or another we'll have to deal with this issue soon as electronic
distribution becomes the new standard. We can't expect magazines or newspapers
for that matter, to maintain the quality of design and content we enjoy if
we're not willing to pay for it.

~~~
nopassrecover
Newspapers are failing because on average they always focused on low quality
content and design quality (cheap to produce no alternatives at the time).
Magazines have higher quality design and content which is why they've always
been able to charge more. Its the same with books - an electronic book just
isn't the same and so won't be valued the same until it's electronic
distribution only. If I gave you Knuth's Art Of Programming as a collection of
printed pages you wouldn't pay me the same premium the quality bound tomes
demand.

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asnyder
I think using Knuth's Art Of Programming as an example is somewhat flawed.
It's not your run of the mill set. The only reason why I wouldn't pay you as
much for the paper collection versus the hardcover set I have on my shelf is
that I consider the hardcover set to be more of a collector sort of item.
However, if I didn't care about it acting as a mantle piece I would still pay
for the content, just not as much as I would for the mantle piece version.
Similarly, some pay for collectors version of games, books, etc.

However, the content should still be valued and priced accordingly. Clearly
less than mantle piece versions. As I said in my previous posts, the prices
should come down with the publishing costs discounted, but any more than that
would devalue the content IMO.

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nopassrecover
Am I missing something? The magazine can now be downloaded onto An iPad
anywhere in the world but this was always the case.

If you check MagCloud (<http://magcloud.com/help/ShippingAndOrdering>) it is
indeed the case that single orders can now be shipped overseas (with multiple
to come) but I cannot see mention of that in the article.

~~~
mkuhn
It is there but quite far down, below the pictures.

 _"In addition to iPad availability, the print on demand part of MagCloud is
growing more sophisticated as well. Publishers can now choose to put a spine
on their magazines (which should be a big improvement), the page limit has
been raised to 384 pages and, perhaps most importantly, HP will now ship
printed magazines anywhere in the world."_

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c1sc0
I'm sorry, I don't get it: how? Do I download an app? Do I buy the pdf &
manually transfer it to my iPad?

~~~
c1sc0
ok, after hunting around a bit on the site, it seems their iPad app is not
available outside of the US: <http://i.imgur.com/alErf.png>

