
The Magazine - rkudeshi
http://www.marco.org/2012/10/11/the-magazine
======
JCB_K
On the one hand I'm very excited by this; I see Marco as an interesting
writer/speaker, when it comes to iOS development or when he geeks out about
whatever gear he's recently bought. I also expect him to be a great editor, so
I'd gladly pay money for a magazine put together by him.

But on the other hand...I'm really wondering why this needs to be an iOS app.
Written content is perfect for publishing on the web, I really don't think
you'll be running into any speed issues when you release this as a web
magazine. And even if you would, why not make the content available both
native and on the web?

I'm aware that Marco is an iOS developer, and that a lot of his readers
(myself included) will have iOS devices, but for the sake of the open web I'm
still slightly disappointed.

~~~
asolove
Because charging for content on the web doesn't work. While I love the web and
wait for a day when we can do micropayments or deep-linking with paywalls or
something, the biggest advance someone could make today is to demonstrate a
digital-only business model.

~~~
anonymouz
LWN seems to be doing fine, they also have a geek audience. The Humble Bundle
also seems to be doing just fine without DRM.

I think with quality content people would pay for it. Not enough to make
anyone rich, but certainly enough to fund the publication. By targeting iOS
only he is missing out on a huge part of the geek universe as potential
customers.

~~~
dredmorbius
Much as I appreciate LWN (and subscribe), my understanding is that it is
losing money. Jon posts periodic updates on this.

~~~
RexRollman
At least you don't lose access to LWN just because you upgraded your OS or
switched platforms.

~~~
dredmorbius
Talk to me about G+ and chromium getting fubared due to Debian bug #682616.

<http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=682616>

Edit: clarifying, G+ tends to strongly favor chromium, and the latter's broken
as of my most recent update.

But, yeah.

~~~
pionar
There's a difference between a bug and being tied to a platform for one
application. To be fair, you can always switch to another OS (or even another
distro) and use chromium.

~~~
dredmorbius
While I largely agree (and have found that G+ actually is pretty usable under
FF16), the point I was highlighting is that Google are (for somewhat
understandable reasons) pushing very hard at the concept of what a Web browser
is, and what it's used for (they really, really want it to be an app platform,
not just a media presentation tool), to the extent that their site degrades
significantly under other browsers. Which creates a pain point when Google's
_own_ browser fails to function under my preferred OS.

And I don't really see scrapping that OS just to use a single website. There
are other alternatives (VMs, etc.), but they're not particularly attractive
either.

The IOS6 specificity of The Magazine really is pretty brain-damaged though.

------
crazygringo
I was very excited about this, so I tried installing it on my iPhone 4S, with
iOS5, and it says:

    
    
        This app requires iOS 6.
    

Really?! _Already??_ :( I didn't upgrade because I want to keep my maps app. I
hope Marco changes it to be iOS 5-compatible, since I know a lot of people who
aren't upgrading to iOS 6 until it has decent maps.

~~~
reidmain
Apps that have hundreds of thousands of daily users are already seeing over
80% of their users are on iOS 6 and this is only after 21 days of it being
available.

Any app I make from now on will be iOS 6 and up. The amount of time I spend
not having to worry about iOS 5 bugs and testing allow me to add more features
that will reach the majority of iOS users.

Spending tens (or possibly hundreds) of hours to make something that already
works in iOS 6 work in iOS 5 to reach a small subset of iOS users is not worth
it for most developers.

~~~
pdog
What are some specific differences between iOS 5 and iOS 6, when it comes to
app development?

~~~
scottchin
One thing that I find incredibly fast and easy to do on iOS6 vs. iOS5 is
implementing post-to-Facebook (and Weibo) using the new Social Framework. In
iOS5, you would have to

\- Register your app on Facebook

\- Integrate the FB SDK (or maybe a third-party wrapper)

\- Implement various authentication/delegates/callbacks

\- Test that you did all of these things correctly

This might not sound like a big deal but it does save some time.

~~~
natesm
Not that I disagree that iOS 5 was obsolete the second that iOS 6 was released
(the numbers agree with us), but...

    
    
        if (NSClassFromString(@"UICollectionView")) // or something that makes a lot more sense, but that came to mind immediately
        {
            // facebook stuff
        }
    
        // Twitter.framework stuff

------
aresant
Next months cover story "Defending my choice of iOS to launch this magazine"

I am amused that by appealing to the tech audience Marco set his release up to
be nitpicked not for content or concept but by platform choice. Fitting but
almost too meta.

~~~
georgemcbay
I think at least part of the reaction to his platform choice is the way he is
branding and positioning it. Calling it simply "The Magazine" for "geeks like
us" is bound to ruffle some feathers, because there are a lot of geeks out
there (disclaimer: I am certainly one of them) who think that Apple, despite
their admittedly unmatched ability to create delightful hardware designs, is
the primary negative actor out there when it comes to limiting what "geeks
like us" are allowed to do with our hardware. And to be clear, I'm not some
card-carrying member of the FSF or anything, I think Stallman is far too
extremist, but I agree with him as far as Apple's negative influence on
computing freedom is concerned.

Had this been initially positioned with the iOS slant it will surely have
given the backer and the exclusive platform it will exist for, I doubt you'd
be seeing nearly as much grumbling about it.

~~~
nsmartt
> _I think Stallman is far too extremist_

The more I see of Apple, Microsoft, and others, the less I think so. I
certainly don't see eye-to-eye with him on everything, but it's becoming clear
to me that we need alternatives that fit his criteria.

Cell phone and tablet operating systems that are completely open, easy to
modify (and easy to distribute modifications), and easy to use from a consumer
point of view would change my world. I'd use it in a heartbeat, and I dearly
hope this is what Firefox OS will be.

I'd like to see a world that's more accommodating for Stallman. I'd also like
to see a world that's less accommodating for Facebook et al.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "Cell phone and tablet operating systems that are completely open, easy to
modify (and easy to distribute modifications), and easy to use from a consumer
point of view would change my world. I'd use it in a heartbeat, and I dearly
hope this is what Firefox OS will be."

This is something most people would be excited to use. Problem is, it isn't
going to happen. I would love it to but look at what happened on the desktop.
Mobile looks like it's going the same way. From a consumer stand point closed
is usually better - there are fewer problems, better service and little setup.
People want this even more on a phone than they did on a PC.

~~~
nsmartt
A cheap device with tremendous ease of use and explicit details about security
and how to deal with it would appeal to a set of informed consumers, and
appeal wildly to a broad set of developers and hackers. I don't see a failure
to gain traction among the "average" consumer to be a real problem with
execution.

------
incision
Sounds good, I'd love to give it a try, but it appears to be tied to iOS.
Confining what appears be minimalist text content to an app on a single
platform seems a bit silly.

~~~
runjake
How is it silly? As he's stated _numerous_ times before:

1\. He is not an Android developer. He is an individual iOS developer. He
doesn't have a fleet of freely-available Android developers at his command.

2\. He doesn't have much free time, he spends a lot of time developing his iOS
apps or doing his podcasts/website writing which provide him with substantial
income.

3\. He doesn't see an adequate business reason to support Android (profit vs
skills or outsourcing vs annoyances).

Within the context he's laid out, why should _he_ support Android?

~~~
gergles
You don't need to "support" any platform. It's a fucking blog that you have to
pay for. HTTP Basic Auth and Recurly/Chargify/your favorite payment provider
here and you "support" every platform in existence.

A magazine is not an 'app' and does not need to be treated as such.

~~~
cwb71
Sounds easy, you should go build it!

Seriously, sorry for the snark but that has been done and it is just not what
Marco is doing here and now.

It is his experiment, and he is clearly willing to own its failure or success.

~~~
Kylekramer
And clearly other people are willing to own their own opinions on his
"experiment".

------
Goronmon
Hopefully platform exclusive stuff like this doesn't become popular.

~~~
dasil003
_Become_ popular? It's the state of nature of computing. Cross-platform is
only a recent phenomenon.

~~~
Goronmon
I don't remember it ever being common to have to buy hardware from a specific
vendor in order to read the news, a magazine or a book.

~~~
hrabago
It's common for sources of entertainment and/or information to be platform-
specific.

~~~
ruswick
I don't think this is true (game consoles notwithstanding). Throughout
history, there have been but a few mediums in use at a single time. Most of
the time, all these platforms were supported. (Now, it's any number of content
distributers on the web, DVD/CD and Blu Ray. 10 years ago, it was DVD and
VHS.) The notion of products bound to a specific platform or medium rose
primarily with the popularization of consumer computing, and software likely
remains the most platform-specific content available.

~~~
dasil003
So you owned a PC and not a Mac in the late 80s/90s then?

------
joeguilmette
I would be all over this if there was a Kindle option. I don't like reading on
LCD screens, especially when I have a gadget that is 100% dedicated to
reading.

~~~
smackfu
Yeah, it's odd considering Marco already produces very nice Kindle articles
out of Instapaper, so he's familiar with the format. And Kindle supports
subscriptions.

------
andyjohnson0
This looks like material that I'd really like to read. Unfortunately I have no
way to access it, since I don't own an iOS device.

I wonder why Marco wants to limit his readership to relatively small
intersection between iOS 6 device owners and people who are interested in the
subject matter. Isn't this rather restricting for him?

(edit: iOS 6)

~~~
alexpenny
What if he did have a big launch, with an app for android and a web version?
What if it was a big failure and he lost more money than he made? Would that
have made sense? This is a new product that he is testing the waters with. He
chose the quickest and most effective way of doing this.

------
inmygarage
Protip: If you're searching in the app store, don't type "The Magazine", it
won't come up. Instead use "The Magazine Marco" if you want to download.

~~~
kefs
Protip: If you're coming up with a name for your new app, don't choose such a
ubiquitous name as "The Magazine".

An effective SEO strategy, mobile or web, will be a nightmare to
develop/implement.

~~~
sequoia
Heh... my primary objection to the name "the magazine" is how unbelievably
pompous it is. It implies that the magazine is a new concept that he created.
Perhaps he can get a software patent on this new- what do you call it "mak-ah-
seen" thing. :)

~~~
shinratdr
> It implies that the magazine is a new concept that he created.

Not really, it's more like The Transit App or Mail.app. Neither entity is
trying to act like they invented transit or mailing. It's just a way of
keeping it simple. IMO it's significantly more pompous to shit all over
something because of the name.

------
kevinflo
Am I completely crazy or is there no way to cancel a subscription? I
subscribed, but only to give it a shot during the 7 day trial. Currently it is
set to auto-renew and charge me $1.99 after 7 days.

edit: Found out how to do it <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4098>

What a RIDICULOUS process. I shouldn't have to google to find out how to do it
in the first place.

~~~
Steko
Apple sends me an email periodically with a link to manage my Netflix and Hulu
Plus subscriptions before they renew and charge me.

I haven't paid for anything on Newstand but I imagine it might work similarly.

------
stephengillie
_It publishes four articles every two weeks for $1.99 per month with a 7-day
free trial._

If I get a 7-day trial, how do I know that those 7 days will coincide with the
14 day article release cycle? This doesn't line up, as though it were designed
to be confusing.

That sentence is worded strangely - talking about a future project you're
organizing as though it's an object of someone else's which already exists. It
sounds impersonal and odd. How about:

 _"The Magazine will publish eight articles per month at a price of $1.99, and
we offer a one week free trial."_

~~~
guan
According to the App Store description, you get access to all back issues with
the 7-day free trial.

~~~
smackfu
So the optimal behavior is to wait a few months to use your free trial.

~~~
hullo
I guess it all depends on the person, but optimizing the optimal application
of two one dollar bills is unlikely ever to be an optimal optimization of most
of the target demographic's time, whether they realize it or not.

~~~
stephengillie
Indeed the full rate is close to a couple of ad-supported-magazine
subscriptions, or less than 1 hour of pay for most of HN. My point was more
about the confused wording of the value proposition than the value itself.
Confused people spend money less than confident people.

~~~
lostlogin
Having just built a bathroom, I can say that in my situation, confused people
spend way more money. Certainty with decisions is way cheaper in a building
scenario.

~~~
TillE
A bathroom is a necessity, or a project where you have a definite end goal in
mind. An entertainment magazine can simply be ignored in favor of other
content.

------
superos
Why didn't he call his new magazine "The Echo Chamber"?

~~~
andos
That’s accurate. Articles are peppered with first person pronouns. Minimalist
on presentation AND content, sadly.

------
zach
For those of you wondering why The Magazine is on iOS (first) and not a
website, the answer is simple. Marco is just replicating the successful
Instapaper business model:

[http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-Readability-and-
Instapaper...](http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-Readability-and-Instapaper-
business-models-How-do-they-differ/answer/Marco-Arment)

~~~
ryanwatkins
Doing it as an iOS app like this also prevents you from doing "Share to Pocket
/ Readability" like you would be able to with a website -- keeps you from
scraping the content out of the publishers site.

~~~
duck
Ironic, eh?

~~~
greedo
Yeah, he should actively support his competitors...

And that word. I do not think it means what you think it means...

~~~
ryanwatkins
There was no suggestion above to add Pocket or Readability support to the iOS
app, just that by picking iOS, he chose a distribution platform that keeps
apps much like his own from scraping the content.

If all publications worked this way, Instapaper couldn't exist.

------
tstegart
Try searching for "The Magazine" in the App Store. Shows you how well Apple's
search algorithms work. App Store SEO is a black box, and I'm not even sure
how Marco would improve his ranking with a name like "The Magazine." *Note -
iPad 1 can see the app in the App Store, but can't use it as it requires iOS
6.

~~~
chipotle_coyote
I only partially agree. My suspicion is that the search algorithm -- like many
text search algorithms -- drops articles, leaving only "magazine" as the
search term, and then suddenly your algorithm is hosed. I think Apple should
prioritize a title which, when you drop _its_ articles, is an exact match for
the search term, but I've seen other people argue that Apple needs to take
into account popularity and star ratings in the result order, which they
probably do. And at this point "The Magazine" isn't going to be nearly as
popular as other things with "magazine" in the title.

While I appreciate the Zen nature of The Magazine as a title, for search
algorithms it may be the equivalent of naming your company "There" (a place I
worked at briefly): it's very clever, but it's damn hard to search for.

~~~
tstegart
I think its improving, its within a few screens of the top search results. Not
sure if because its getting good ratings or more downloads or if Apple is
adjusting the results so that people who search for "The Magazine" will
actually find the magazine. Currently at 1:15 pm, Oct 11 its at #54 on the
iPad and #39 for the iPhone.

------
guelo
Obviously Marco's business plan will be to build up anticipation and demand on
other platforms and announce them over time. But I don't see how that will
work if the content stays invisible. He will probably need to periodically
release sample articles on the web to generate buzz, notice he already did
this for the Foreword article.

~~~
shinratdr
400 million iOS devices counts as "invisible" to you? I don't think you're
really his target audience.

------
masto
I figured I'd try it out, but lost my enthusiasm after unsuccessfully
attempting to search for the app for five minutes.

Next time pick a distinctive name.

------
Osmium
I've just been looking through the most popular Newsstand apps, and it
suddenly occurred to me what's wrong with it: all the thumbnails are of print
magazine covers, and they're all too small to read! If that doesn't scream
"doing it wrong" I don't know what does.

The cover's meant to advertise the issue and make me want to buy it and I
can't even read it. Why does Newsstand not have a "In this issue" tab when you
preview the app? Why do I have to buy the whole issue instead of just an
article? Why can't I have a central list of articles, that I can search, and
favourite and share? The Newsstand API isn't aggressive enough. It needs to
bring these publications into the future before we lose them.

Traditional print publications, which are producing quality journalism, need
to adapt to new technology and release something like what Marco's doing here
instead of trying to cram their paper format into an app with all the cruft
that that entails.

~~~
shinratdr
> Why does Newsstand not have a "In this issue" tab when you preview the app?

You can download the app and preview the magazine.

> Why do I have to buy the whole issue instead of just an article?

Because nobody sells content like this, it's not just limited to magazines.

> Why can't I have a central list of articles, that I can search, and
> favourite and share?

Because magazine companies are trapped in the past.

------
pinder
I'm assuming most people on this thread have the Newsstand app buried on the
last page and have explored how to remove it completely.

------
msrpotus
Sounds like Hacker News but on iOS and curated by Marco. While I'm sure he's a
great guy, I get something pretty similar for free, right here.

~~~
antirez
Hacker Monthly (that publishes only entries appeared here in HN) now has an
iPad app as well, I know it because it was developed by the company of my
close friends where I'm an advisor and shareholder. They also provide an
Android version for the same publishing platform.

------
CrankyPants
I'll be downvoted for saying it, but this may be where the bloom comes off
Marco's rose.

And, this comment's relevant to the HN crowd: most (if not all) successful
entrepreneurs owe something to outside factors, but can develop a sort of
"survivorship bias," whereby they feel like they're unduly sierra hotel.

Marco made a great app in Instapaper. Is his business and tech sector acumen
as good as Instapaper?

We'll see.

------
ghshephard
First - this is easily, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one the best online
Magazine App for the iPad. It's ironic how Time, New Yorker, Popular
Mechanics, National Geographic - all offer such horrible experiences that I've
deleted them from my iPad. Only NYT and "The Economist" aren't totally crappy
(Though neither of them download in that background on my iOS 6 iPad 3... Grrr
- But I bet Marco's App supports background downloading.)

Second - The article on Volatiles and Stables was worth an entire years
subscription by itself. Marco made it easy for us to copy/paste the text -
didn't trap the content like all those crappy magazine systems normally do.
I've been madly copying that article and forwarding it to everyone in the
company, with a prominent link to "The Magazine".

I'm guessing that He'll get at least 10 _direct_ new subscriptions through me
alone. WHo knows how many indirect subscriptions...

------
jfb
This could be great. Most digital magazines are terrible; while this won't
solve the biggest problem (the magazine itself is a superior technology for
reading), it could go a long ways towards a better reading experience. NEW
YORKER I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

------
quinndupont
Is there any chance the writing will be any good, compared to the long-
standing, excellent journalism that already exists? I'll keep getting my
quality journalism from New Yorker, The Nation, The Guardian, etc.

------
njharman
> a modern iOS Newsstand publication for geeks like us that’s loosely about
> technology, but also gives tech writers a venue to explore other topics that
> like-minded geeks might find interesting.

Maybe there's a market for magazine type media. It seems so backwards and
nostalgic. Print imposed restrictions on size, format, timelyness, access,
single voice (no comments), among others. The description of "The Magazine"
sounds like what HN or Reddit already is.

Also something so pretentious to call itself "The Magazine" is gonna be filled
with poseur hacks. Wired already fills that role.

~~~
LaGrange
Print restrictions? Let's talk about side-by-side articles, bundling
commentary essays with the main feature, boxed info and the whole shebang of
stuff that just doesn't seem to work on the internet (and I sorta doubt it
will work on tablets, but I'll give it a try). It's stuff that's basically
possible thanks to two things: the magazine and broadsheet formats, and
extensive editing.

Just because Internet is modern doesn't mean it doesn't come with restrictions
of it's own. Even automated syndication things like Flipboard managed to
emulate the look of a magazine, but not the feature that is editing and
selection of content by someone competent, but who you only sort-of agree
with.

------
RexRollman
Periodicals as applications is a silly idea, IMHO. I can't bring myself to
support this, even though I am a happy Instapaper user.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Why is it a silly idea? Could you explain further?

~~~
RexRollman
In my opinion, this is like creating a magazine that can only be read while
sitting in an Eames chair.

~~~
artursapek
What an awesome line.

------
brackin
I believe that content should be written for a platform. Which is why putting
magazines on newsstand by putting images in an application hasn't sold well.
This content targets the iOS using audience and is written for the format.

The tools iOS provide will at least allow them to test if selling an iOS only
publication works.

------
pkamb
> _Read this, plus more, in The Magazine’s app for iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod
> touch®. Start your free, 1-week trial._

<http://i.imgur.com/bINgC.png>

What's with the "®"s? Seems like something Marco would complain about on B&A.
(Also, that entire button should be clickable.)

~~~
kmfrk
It looks like boilerplate or c/p'd text. Note that "touch" is not capitalized
either. This is too sloppy for Marco - or a serious indictment of the
editorial standard we can expect.

~~~
haxorize
Apple doesn't capitalize the T in iPod touch.

<http://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/>

~~~
pkamb
That doesn't necessarily mean tech writers shouldn't though.

~~~
_djo_
Of course it does. What justification would they have for using a different
name capitalisation for the product?

~~~
smackfu
It's fairly common. For instance, the NY Times style is to use "iPod Touch",
"iPod Nano", and "Mac Mini" despite Apple's desires. The justification is that
a proper noun in all lowercase can lead to unclear or ambiguous sentences.

~~~
_djo_
Then they do so incorrectly, as Apple's list of registered trademarks clearly
specifies the lowercase second word for these devices. [0]

So when the NY Times writes iPod Touch® [1] as they do on their mobile apps
page they're not using the registered trademark as intended. It would be as
incorrect as writing 'Blackberry' or 'MicroSoft'.

Apple is pretty touchy about this, with Section 4 of their 'Rules for Proper
Use of Apple Trademarks' saying:

 _4\. Always spell and capitalize Apple’s trademarks exactly as they are shown
in the Apple Trademark List. Do not shorten or abbreviate Apple product names.
Do not make up names that contain Apple trademarks._ [2]

Obviously the enforcement of all that legalese is questionable and Apple has
yet to burn down the doors of the NY Times, but I think it's fair to say that
for the rest of us it would be correct to accept that not all company and
product names follow grammatical rules and that when writing about them we
should spell and capitalise them as the company intended rather than as we'd
prefer.

[0] <http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/appletmlist.html>

[1] <http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/apps/>

[2]
[http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/guidelinesfor3rdparties...](http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/guidelinesfor3rdparties.html)

~~~
smackfu
Funny thing is that it doesn't seem like the actual registered trademark
includes capitalization choice. They are all shown as all-caps in the PTOs
database, for instance: Word Mark ITUNES MATCH

~~~
_djo_
I believe the trademark is registered regardless of capitalisation, otherwise
we'd have ridiculous situations like GoOgLe being non-infringing. So 'iTunes
Match' is protected whether it's spelled 'ITUNES MATCH', 'iTUNES match' or
whatever other combination you want.

That is however a separate issue to a company's preferred usage of its mark,
where it has the prerogative to specify a preferred capitalisation. Again, the
examples of 'Blackberry' and 'MicroSoft' being incorrect are relevant here.

As an aside, I love that we got into a debate on this. In what other community
would such needless minutiae take up anyone's time? :)

------
abacus
The content is basically long-form hacker news, only made worse because now
it's 'curated' with whatever lofty theoretical mission 'The Magazine'
espouses. Nice looking app but those four articles bored me to the point of
canceling my 7 day trial.

------
chj
I don't see why this could not be released as a web app:

1\. Access from any device; 2\. Charging via PayPal isn't worse if not better
than the App Store.

------
techpeace
I can't seem to get the "start your free trial" link to function from the
"Introduction" article.

~~~
k-mcgrady
That just launched the in-app purchase alert for me. Then when I paid I swiped
right to access the menu. It could be that you have in-app purchase disabled
on your device.

------
Chico75
We want a kindle version !

------
arjn
if its for IOS only then I cant access it. Also, I question the "geeks like
us" part. Why not just publish it as a downloadable PDF or EPUB or something
along those lines ?

~~~
shinratdr
> Also, I question the "geeks like us" part.

If you question it, then you aren't who he is talking to.

For the record, it's not like he's claiming ownership of the word geek and
assigning it a strict definition that involves owning an iOS device. He's
saying it's designed for geeks like "us". A cross section of both "like
Marco", and a geek.

Not exactly something to question.

> Why not just publish it as a downloadable PDF or EPUB or something along
> those lines ?

Because charging for it becomes much harder, it requires users to do more
work, and it bypasses the hundreds of millions of iTunes accounts with credit
cards already attached, something that has already been demonstrated to shoot
up subscription rates.

------
dr_
Hopefully he can succeed where The Daily has failed.

------
tlrobinson
I can't see to get the App Store URL to work.

------
bconway
I would be interested in a paid RSS option.

------
protomyth
Is the content good?

------
dmorgan
> _Introducing The Magazine: a modern iOS Newsstand publication for geeks like
> us that’s loosely about technology, but also gives tech writers a venue to
> explore other topics that like-minded geeks might find interesting._

So, also boring stuff about brewing coffee and typefaces?

