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Spin Play puts a new spin on the digital magazine
Posted on: 4/4/2011 1:23:21 AM

Jabril Faraj

In a time when every publication is rushing to get their content on mobile devices and basically anywhere else they can (in the form of digital versions of their magazines) very few are doing it right. But Spin magazine definitely got something right when they released their first iPad magazine app, Spin Play, in late March.

The music magazine and website, in an effort to keep readers engaged and interested, has re-imagined the digital magazine app. As opposed to many magazines which require readers to download 500 megabyte files -- which can take up to 20 minutes -- in order to read the latest content, the Spin app is only 60 megabytes. But they didn't only make it smaller. Spin Play will also allow readers to stream music right from the magazine, as appropriate depending on the article, and will also give the option to purchase the songs on iTunes.

Spin magazine Creative Director Devin Pedzwater explained the motivation behind their iPad version. He said, "We really wanted to focus on a simple, quick experience for the readers. A digital magazine shouldn't be difficult to use or take forever to download, and we took these factors into consideration when building this magazine for the iPad." And although the magazine isn't perfect (it is only available in a horizontal view and some content requires an active Internet connection), the idea behind it is definitely a step in the right direction, as is the very attractive price tag.

Issues can be individually downloaded for $1.99 each or readers can purchase a yearly subscription for $7.99. Hopefully more magazines will take their digital versions in the same direction.

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