Entertainment For Lively Minds
Introducing The Word e-dition
We keep reading that the world's biggest magazine publishers are wondering whether they might be able to "do an iTunes" for magazines. Determined not to be caught out like the record companies were, they are looking at ways they can reproduce the magazine experience on-line. We say, good luck with that.
While they're getting ready to spend millions we're offering what we call an "e-dition" of the magazine as an additional benefit to subscribers. Every month we'll send you a URL via email. All you have to do is put this in your browser and you'll be directed to the new issue in a form which is browseable, zoomable, searchable, clickable and accessible from anywhere you can access the web. This video explains how it works. If you haven't subscribed this is as good a time as any to do it. Follow this link and you can get a whole year's worth for just £36 (offer stands for this month only).
If you're a Word subscriber, you can ensure you receive the e-mails notifying you of each month's e-dition URL by logging in to your subscription account and ensuring your e-mail address is up to date.
It's good, but...
... my fear is that you will follow the seemingly oncoming trend and eventually give up on us dinosaurs who need the printed word.
Or us hoarders who like to stuff our pantries with back issues – what we would describe to our GLW as "a resource" rather than a pile of unthumbed magazines facing the oncoming Damp Wars.
Thart's not going to happen
The online edition is a useful extra, but it can't hold a candle to the tactile sexiness of the print version. And I say this as The Word's in-house digital zealot.
On the other hand,
if you held a candle to the digital version, at least your pantry wouldn't go up in smoke.
it's a very useful complement
as a magazine publisher myself, I can vouch for the value of a digital edition of the magazine. The vast majority will always prefer the paper version though, so you're not cannibalising your market
On your word...
... I enter the rest of my day, my life, a happy soldier.
The e-dition is useful, that's for certain. It was good to be able to flick through it as I arrived at my desk this morning having not quite finished reading something in the print version at home. But, and I feel the same way about my iPod, it's merely a convenience rather than the preferred option.
Congratulations again to The Word.
Can't wait to see if the e-edition looks good on my phone.
Which brings me to a question for Fraser - are there any plans to introduce a 'mobile' version of the website?
e-dition
For it to work on your phone you'll need flash, which many mobile browsers still don't accommodate. And no, there are currently no plans to introduce a specific mobile version.
Thanks for letting me know.
My phone uses Android, so I'll have to check the specification.
No Flash support on iPhone
Aaah well , , ,
Break free
Go to Cydia. You too can have a flash plug-in for the iPhone Safari browser.
Will it work
on one of those Sony etch a sketch reader type things? I'm thinking of getting one.
Don't know
But if it supports flash and can access the web, then yes, probably.
Subscribed
You've made my day (again) and my Christmas. I'm sending the print version to my sister back in Blighty and I'll have the e-copy to peruse at my leisure here in China.
I would much rather have the print edition, there is no substitute for the real thing, but the e-copy will always get through.
Thank you for listening.
And thank you...
For subscribing.
Don't seem to have had the email yet
Have they gone out?
I get the Something for the Weekend ones.
The e-mail
Went out yesterday. If you didn't get it, check your details using the link in the original post.
Good idea...
thanks.
Apologies for posting this
link a second time, but it seems to fit in with this thread:
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/57094,news-comment,technology,plastic-e-re...
Er...
...Can I subscribe but not get the printed edition? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have it, but I can't justify a US sub, and an electronic version would suit me just fine. I can't think of anyone back in the UK who might like a copy on a regular basis (my dad is more of an "Oldie" fan).
Same question for me
I would subscribe but the price for Canada is just too high especially when compared with the US.
And for Oz
The ridiculous price of an overseas sub has always been the issue for me (pun not intended but I'll take it)- I've subscribed to Word several times and occasionally to one or two of its inferior rivals. After 12 months common sense kicks in so I don't renew.
An e-Word wouldn't match the real thing but it's still pretty impressive and I'd take comfort from its cost-effectiveness. I would probably still buy the hard copy when it turns up in the newsagent 3 months later, just for the CD.
Searchable, eh?
This means we can easily find any band names sneaked in by Mark Ellen.
CD Lost
My "expensive" US subription copy of Word Jan 10 - just arrived with ripped polythene and no CD.
Love the idea of an e edition - but I did not get the e mail - and I just checked my account for correct e mail - any chance of getting the CD downloadable also
Missing CD
Drop Nicole in the Word office an e-mail and she'll send you a replacement. As for making the CD downloadable, there's very little chance of that happening - our agreement with the record companies is for a physical product only, and making it available for download would open up a whole new can of worms - logistically, technically, legally, the works.
The e-dition...
is a great idea, it now means that I can read in bed when herself is asleep (she complains about the light being on, and I take longer to get to sleep!) Just one thing, should I have got the link in the email at the weekend? I didn't, so I emailed for my web id but still waiting.
Last Straw
You've finally pushed me over the edge, been reading the mag since day one and finally subscribed today, will I receive the first mag of 2010 or have a I left it too late for that?
Probably too late
I think it's a few weeks before the first issue arrives.
And thanks!
the e edition
Just to let Fraser know that the other day i searched in Google for some keywords only relevant to this months issue (harry hill eamonn forde or somesuch) and the e-edition link was google indexed, high up in that string of keywords results and when i clicked on it i got access to the entire december issue online "for free". Presumably an early bug. It looked lovely i thought.
Anyway i'm know a subscriber. Have bought *every* issue from the newstand(s) but finally took the plunge. Well you do keep banging on about it after all. :)
And thanks to you too.
Mark Ellen's children will not go hungry tonight.
Are you suggesting
he holds his children hostage against subscription figures?
I'm feeling left out!...
I've sent two emails requesting my web id so that I can find the e-edition, but still no joy. Was it something I said?!
I hope not
The subs people should respond to any query within 48 hours. Please e-mail me if they don't.
Thanks Fraser....
Will do!
Any chance...
that this could be extended to out-of-print back issues? There are so many old interviews & features I would love to be able to read – and you could even charge for them! Or would this cause royalty problems?
Another new subscriber gained
Although a regular reader, I've never subscribed as my somewhat itinerant lifestyle makes it impractical. Now I'll be able to read it wherever I am in the world. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.
Thanks from Down Under
The e-dition is a real boon for those of us who wait for each months's issue to fly (or occasionally, it seems, swim or perhaps walk) down here to the other side of the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
help!
Fraser, can you talk me through the sub form process?
It says "First choose the country you live in from the list below and then choose the country you want the magazine to be delivered to from the list below."
There's only one list option so how does that work? I live in NZ and want to sub for my brother in the UK and have the digital version for myself.
Thanks
I'm not quite sure what you mean...
You should see this:
You choose NZ from the first dropdown, and UK from the second, then fill in the delivery details further down the page. The physical version will be sent to the UK address, and I'm pretty sure you'd get the link to the digital version, if only because it'll be the only e-mail address the subscription company will have, AFAIK.
Thanks Fraser
I've just seen this reply.
For some reason, I only got one drop down line when I was trying to fill this out before Christmas. Will try it again and hopefully it will work. But unfortunately I have missed the end of year cut for the STG 36 offer...any chance you can extend it?
Cheers.
To amplify the backissues online point earlier....
...I've only just started buying the mag locally, and I too would love to access some of the old articles. Back issues are a hassle to obtain, so how about putting them on the web site ? Maybe just the feature articles ? That would be worth a subscription (to me at least). Not sure about the copyright issues etc, but in terms of monetizing the mags assets, I'm unlikely to buy all the old issues (cost and shipping), and I would doubt you've got them. If I'm buying the mags second hand (assuming I could find them) you're not getting anything anyway, but putting them online there's a potential subscription and advertising.
Hmm, not sure. We'd need to
Hmm, not sure. We'd need to get an extra laptop to keep in the downstairs loo.