Much has been made about the death of print media, but one interesting, if not exactly crucial, question comes up in my mind when such discussions arise: if print magazines are on their way out, then what will be the 21st-century equivalent of the magazine stand?
The answer seems to have arrived: Zinio. Though it has some flaws, Zinio should be a company and a service that, along with Amazon’s “Kindle,” will define how people will read and consume media in the years to come. In addition to hosting several well-known titles--Men’s Journal, Woman’s Day, Penthouse are but a few examples--Zinio is also offering digital exclusives. The company is distributing VIVmag, the first completely digital woman’s lifestyle magazine.
Furthermore, if they know where to look, consumers can find some amazing deals. For example: 13 digital issues of Reader’s Digest for $10.00 (yeah, yeah, it’s old-folks-tastic, but work with me here). Currently, a one-year, 14 issue magazine subscription through Reader’s Digest website costs $14.98. That’s an average of $1.25 per issue through the mail. Through Zinio? That’s about 76 cebts per issue--with nothing to throw away after you’re done reading it.
Similarly, a subscription for ESPN the Magazine--that’s the sound of our younger readers coming back, in case you were wondering that that noise was--costs $1 an issue for 26 editions through the ESPN website. Through Zinio? $14.97 for 26 issues, a per-issue cost of 56 cents. Amazon offers a similar deal, but again, that’s print--which means waiting for the mail, additional waste, and not being able to read it digitally. You still have to read the ads that appear in the original print magazine though, which can prove for a click-intensive reading experience.
However, make no mistake about it: Zinio does have some considerable flaws. First, the selections in music and news are limited. There’s no Rolling Stone, no Spin, and the magazine that Zinio does carry (i.e., New Musical Express, Uncut) have online companions that offer daily breaking news. For news, there are no opinion journals, like Reason or The Nation, nor are there more mainstream offerings like Time or Newsweek.
However, in Zinio’s defense, the company is constantly adding new titles to its library. They also offer a solid selection of more niche titles, like Foreign Policy magazine for news, and Out for gay/lesbian lifestyle. Also worth examination is the suggestion--the Wikipedia page mentions it with no citation, so take it with a grain of salt--that the magazines the company offers have DRM embedded in them, which may make magazine consumption difficult for some digital users.
But even with its flaws, Zinio offers a solid digital alternative for those who want to read magazines, but don’t want to stretch their pocketbook in order to do so. Along with its sister site, Zinio Textbooks, expect Zinio to be the only 21st-century magazine stand that the world will ever need.
