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Try a Digital Magazine Subscription

By Richard Corzo

 

It seems like I have an accumulation of paper magazines laying around. I just haven’t kept up, even though I’ve cut back on the number of subscriptions I have. For computer-related news and information I’ve mostly been able to turn to the Internet for keeping up to date, so I don’t have much need for paper subscriptions in that area.

Recently I’ve taken on the task of Mac SIG leader, so I’ve felt the need to become more informed on the Macintosh. One site I visit is Macworld (http://www.macworld.com) which is also published as a magazine. The site has many of the articles from the paper magazine, but some articles, although shown in a table of contents, are not available. It’s necessary to get the actual magazine, if you want to read all the articles.

I contemplated ordering a subscription to Macworld for a very reasonable price compared to buying single issues, but I hesitated when I remembered the pile of paper magazines in my house. I was also interested in some back issues, which it’s possible to order, but I didn’t know how long it might take to get them. Then I stumbled on a link at their site for a digital magazine subscription.

For the same price as the paper magazine subscription I could get issues delivered digitally. It’s all possible with a digital magazine reader application from Zinio (http://www.zinio.com). I was surprised at how many publications were available, including ones I already subscribed to such as BusinessWeek. You can sign up for a digital magazine subscription at the individual magazine’s Web site, or go to the Zinio site. Once you order a subscription you’ll have your first issue in minutes instead of weeks. You’ll need to first download the Zinio application which includes a reader and delivery manager, available for both Mac and Windows. Then the delivery manager will check for and download any issues that are available to you.

The digital version looks just like the paper version, with each and every page reproduced and containing every advertisement in its full glory, including overleafs and inserts. The reader allows you to navigate and zoom in on pages with either the keyboard or mouse. When you turn a page the animation actually looks like a page turning in a real magazine. The digital version also has advantages over the paper version. For instance, when you see an article in the table of contents, you can click on it to go directly to that page. The animation quickly shows a whole bunch of pages turned in one operation to the article you’ve chosen. To go back to the table of contents, there’s a keyboard shortcut for instant access. When you see a Web link mentioned in an article, you can click on it to have your Web browser go to that Web page.

The print quality is very good and readable except for the small print you might see at the bottom of an advertisement. When you first open a page there seems to be a brief rendering process that goes from somewhat blurry to sharp. The time this takes is less noticeable on a faster machine. I’d also recommend a large display for best readability. You can print one page or two facing pages at a time. To see how well the reader would work on your machine, you can download a sample magazine with the reader.

In case you have multiple computers you’re allowed to download an issue up to three times. (This may depend on the particular magazine you subscribe to). You’ll need the reader application on each computer. If you want to share an issue with a friend, there’s a toolbar icon you can click on that takes you to a Web page where you fill in their e-mail address and a message. The friend will receive instructions on how to download the reader and the issue.

I’m happy with my digital subscription so far. I was able to order those back issues I wanted and get them in minutes. Still I don’t think I would get all or even most of my magazines digitally. For portability it’s hard to beat a paper magazine, but it certainly made sense to go digital for a computer-related magazine that I might read while sitting at the computer anyway. The issues don’t take up space in my household and I don’t have to take out old issues to the trash.


Richard Corzo is a computer programmer who loves to tinker with operating systems. He has recently developed a fascination for the Mac OS, and has become leader of a revived DACS Mac SIG.. He can be reached at macsig@dacs.org.

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