iPad vs Print

I wanted to look closer at the Vogue tablet app but since I don't have a tablet and the friends who do , lost theirs or they got stolen, I did the next best thing and tried to find the introduction and overview of the app on Youtube.  I also wanted to compare it to the print version of the magazine and see how is the digitisation improving or downgrading the print versions of the same issue.

I did find a few videos remotely what I was looking for, even though too short.

The video that I want to share is like a introduction to the 2011 December issue digital version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goJX-HefCBk

The magazine production, has according to McLuhan and Powers (1989) been transformed by colour television. The emergence of glossy covers, colour pictures and more user-friendly layouts has come about as the medium of magazines production has responded to technological developments in television (Stevenson, N. (2002) Understanding Media Culture London: Sage). I want to explore if there is any truth behind this quote and is it relevant now days.

Reason why I chose it, is because I actually have a print version of this issue. The obvious difference between the issues is that readers can't press on anything in the print issue. Personally this quality is not something that I am very fond of and perhaps is the reason why I prefer print copies but for a lot of the people of this modern age this press on everything quality makes the issue more interesting and perhaps more interactive.

Here is an example of what I was talking about. On that page there is a play button that the readers could press and a video from the photoshoot would open, revealing some scenes and shots that were not included in the magazine.

As you can see below in the print version the same page looks different and there is a limited amount of pictures that could have been included.

I found it very interesting how the Vogue App gives you the possibility to watch videos with fashion shows and  interviews with designers, models and fashionistas. While you are reading an article you can press on some of the images which will turn into a video with the interview or a fashion show so you don't have to go online or to press a link that will take you to another page to watch them. The videos are part of the digital issue. That gives the readers easier access to the information that the publishers want to share.

As it can be seen the print version is not that much different in terms of content but obviously there are no videos there and its seems that the same article on iPad is one page while the print version takes up  3 pages. If the digital issue would have been printed it would most possibly  be thinner but on larger paper.

Another fascinating thing about  the digital issue of Vogue is that the some of the images are moving. I don't mean like videos but actual images are rotating or jumping up and down.

This is the best example of what I am talking about, if you watch the video posted above then wait until 0:17 and you will see the moving images.

Of course its always more interesting when images are moving and that will actually attract the readers attention to that specific item which is a good marketing strategy, especially because its an article about Christmas gifts (you can see that not all of the images are moving, so the editors are subtly showing their preference to some items rather then all of them).

There is a question that comes to mind when looking at all of these moving images - Is our society becoming stupid?

Are we living in a time when to attract readers print media needs to have flashy images? I personally feel that a lot of people in this Century are like toddlers who need colorfoul pictures in their books, just so to keep their entertained. I understand that my main focus is Vogue and its digital issue which need to be different from the print issue and that is how editors and developers made it different and how they market products but it just makes you think about our society.

As said before the content is the same n the print media, just the images are not moving.



Digital issue also allows you to see behind the scenes of the photoshoots (that you can find on Vogue webiste). For some of the readers this little extra might make the photoshoot even more interesting then before.

 

So the digitalisation hasn't changed the print issue too radically. Yes, videos were added, images are now moving and the layout is a bit different and pages are not longer, but so far that's about it. I have posted about the future of Vogue in the digital age were students from Sweden made a video about how in the near future people will be able to just scan the items in magazines, with a smartphone, which will forward them to the website if the items brand where it will be possible to purchase the item but at the moment it is not possible.

The digital issues are perhaps more entertaining but that about it. I still prefer the print copy over the digital one but that is perhaps because I wasn't born in the digital age, not everyone had computers or mobile phones when I grew up. So maybe I'm just being sceptical about it.
I found that the quote mentioned in the beginning is actually very relevant to the Vogue app. The quote talked about how TV is changing magazines and from the example above that is clearly seen. Magazines are becoming more image focused and the digital issues include videos now. Perhaps the future of magazines lies in TV, who knows...

In any case the conclusion is that the digital issue doesn't differ that much from the print media but for publications its essential to have an App in this modern age.

Vogue Readership/Circulation

So for a long time I thought to do a post about Vogue readership and circulation figures. Wouldn't it be interesting how the figures have dropped or risen with the digital age? 

Perhaps its my inner geek talking but I found it very fascinating idea. The initial idea was to compare the readership and circulation figures from the 1960's or 1970's with today's figures. As it turned out it was hard to obtain figures that were older then 3 years. I failed in that searched but I did find figures from 2006 when the iPad was still not released and Twitter didn't exist and Facebook was something that mainly college students used. My main goal will be the circulation figures since there is more information on that. 

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So these are the figures from 2006 (Vogue is outlined with red brackets). It can be seen that already then, the numbers were rising. One of the reason was perhaps the Vogues Official Website that boosted its popularity or perhaps that it was the golden time after the 90's and at that time the economy was growing and there were no signs of recession. 

These are the circulation figures of 2012 (January - June). It can be seen that the figures have gone down but on the other hand there are the digital circulation figures. Honestly I don't understand the digital circulation figures because I believe its hard to track. One person has the app and that's it. How can anyone find out how many people read that digital copy. 

The low figures could be blamed on the economy. As we all know the economy is in a bad place right now, so some people might choose to cut down on magazines. There is also the chance that the figures are lower then in 2006 because of the digital age. People are always talking bout how the print media might become extinct because of the digital revolution. The editors try to re-assure us that the print versions of their publications will always exist but the figures are painting a gloomy picture. Perhaps it is because the magazines are still trying to adjust to the digital age and all of the social,- and information platforms that have been created in the process. 

But at least Vogue is still going strong compared to some other fashion magazines. 

In terms of fashion titles, British Vogue fell 0.2 percent in the six months to December, compared to the same period last year, to 210,806, while Hearst’s Elle declined 2.7 percent to 195,020 year-on-year.

(Source: http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/uk-titles-post-slow-growing-abcs-5704950) 

As you can see there other factors that might have influenced the readership/circulation figures. I believe it a bit hard to correctly analyse the figures because of those factors and we just need to wait for the economy to start improving and the magazines to figure out their place in the digital age and only then could we look at the figures and have a correct portrait of the situation. Until then we can only wait and hope that print copies of magazines will still have  the same relevance as they do now.