You might have seen the multiple updates to my previous post, in which I complained heartily regarding the poor media management capabilities of Android (and to all those “what can be easier than drag-and-drop?” fans out there… drag-and -drop sucks. There, I said it). You might have been disheartened by this, and thought that, well, maybe Android wasn’t as good as ‘they’ were making it out to be. Don’t be that way. I found a solution – a solution that DOESN’T involve playlists. Yep – Windows Media Player.

OK, I’m guessing not many of you out there would have been expecting that little nugget of info, but it actually works well. Provided you have set WMP up correctly (I hadn’t, but I did a little research, deleted my library database, and started again – works like a charm now), it will manage the music on your phone perfectly. You can add your files to a sync queue, and it adds them sequentially instead of trying to squeeze it all on at the same time. It doesn’t do everything, but Android doesn’t NEED to be synced, which is a good thing. So that’s solved, and I am a happy man.

What about everything else? Well, it’s a great phone, but it’s different to iPhone. Samsung’s Touch User Interface is… kind of superfluous, really. It’s not as bad or ugly as it is made out to be, but it just doesn’t help things – that said, I installed a different homescreen, which is somewhat more useful. Phone speed is good, but it’s not as fluid as iPhone, and it crashes on occasion. I also have occasional issues with the phone not syncing with my email accounts, and I have no idea what is causing it… Apps aren’t as fully featured or as pretty as iPhone apps (and apparently this comes down to restrictions on App size imposed by Google), but I guess as things progress, this will change. Lastly, something that doesn’t affect me directly but surely causes some sort of issues – the disparate versions of Android available across platforms. Weird. But apart from all that, I can’t really complain. It does most things as well as – if not, better than – iPhone, and it all looks just as good.

Then again, there are some little things that iPhone doesn’t do that Android DOES do, and you just don’t realise the difference. Push, for example, is so full-featured on Android that you almost take it for granted. Twitter will keep a little ticker going listing how many tweets are unread, and a great deal of apps can be set up in much the same way. It’s not something I really thought about, but iPhone just doesn’t do this well. And the ability to use widgets and skin your phone? It seems unnecessary, but it’s really nice to have. The net benefit of all this outweighs the little issues I’ve outlined above, and most of these will be ironed out as Android matures.

I guess my point is… I’ll probably never go back to iPhone unless they can make some of these changes to the system functionality – it’s ridiculous not to have some of these things. They will probably become so ingrained in the way I use a mobile that I won’t be able to live without them in future. IPhone is a great phone, and I had no complaints while I was an owner, but having tried something else, I’m not sure I want to go back… Android is only going to get better, and the App Market will only get stronger – it was probably the right time to change teams.

And me? I guess at various stages I have fit into all of the above. At first, I hated Apple products and the hipsters that bought them. I had no interest in Macs or iPods. Then, in the early to mid-2000s when I decided I needed an MP3 player, I was convinced to get myself a 60GB iPod simply based on the fact that, at the time, there was no real competition. But while I loved my iPod, I wasn’t converted to ‘the club’ (or the cult, as some might prefer). I still hated Macs, and had nothing more than a passing interest in the iPhone when it was released.

And then I got one (a story in itself), and I was hooked. I also ended up getting myself an iPad recently – but I still have no interest in Macs (which is my personal beef – it’s not that I hate Macs, I just don’t want one).

Don’t get me wrong – I still believe that iPhone does certain things SO MUCH better than all other phones on the market. There is a reason the phone became so popular, and that’s because it really is a damn good phone. However, I found myself vehemently defending the phone to haters – even defending the obvious problems and omissions. Arguments such as “I just don’t NEED it” are common amongst iPhone users (fanboys?) – but how true is that statement, or is it just that iPhone is so easy to use, and Apple’s marketing is so pervasive, that you are almost brainwashed to feel this way?

Then came Android. Sure, it’s been around for a while, but Google is really making up on some lost ground now. Many tech nerds swear by Android, and most Apple haters do too (coincidence? probably not). But how can something really compare favourably to my wonderful iPhone?

So I decided to break out of my iMould and get myself an Android – in this case, a Samsung Galaxy S. My intention was to see whether iPhone really WAS so much better than the competition, to gauge whether or not I was simply a product of Apple’s marketing, and to see if the switch to Android was worth my time (and let’s face it – money). I did it so you don’t have to.

Why did I make this decision?

Some of the reasons are outlined above. But there are others – I guess I started to feel like Apple was starting to ‘own’ me. I had bought a number of accessories that could ONLY be used with iPhones, and if I wanted a new phone in future, this was likely to affect my decision-making process. I also dislike iTunes, and found myself restricted by some of the other choices that Apple had made in the phone. I understand why they made the decisions – they’re business decisions in reality – but these decisions were made at the expense of the user. Still, I guess the phone does what it needs to, and it does it well, so… People tend not to complain.

Truth is, I love my iPhone, but there simply MUST be more out there. Was I really buying it just because it was an iPhone? I would say (and I stand by this statement) that no – iPhone is a great phone in and of itself, but I had to find out if it was really the Jesus-phone it was made out to be…

How did I go about it?

Well, it took a while, to be honest. I had to do some soul-searching (seriously). Did I really want to risk losing an awesome phone just to see if there was anything else out there that was equally as good? On that front, I’d pretty much been sold on Android already. I’d seen some of my colleague’s phones and played around, and I’d read up on the functionality of Android, so I knew it was a viable and useful system. But I did love my iPhone.

Once I’d kind of come to the conclusion that, yes, I did want to do this, I then had to think about what I wanted from a phone. I did a bit of a “day in the life of” project over a couple of random days, and I wrote down all of the main functions I used on a daily basis. I then went over my applications, and looked into what I DIDN’T use on a daily basis, but needed occasional access to. The list of daily needs was shorter than I had first thought (the usual – phone, messaging, email, maps, internet, music), but when it came to applications? There were many. So many, in fact, that I started to think I couldn’t do it.

And you know what? This is another way that Apple gets you. The apps only work on your iPhone, so did I really want to waste the money I had spent on some of those apps? And what if Android didn’t have a suitable equivalent – I’d be screwed! Truth is – I owned the iPhone, so I could still use the apps once I’d swapped out my SIM (yes, you can use an iPhone as an iPod Touch without a SIM – 3GS at least – you just get an annoying “No SIM” message every time you unlock the screen). And really – the only apps I’d forked out money for were games, and most of them were old and I was done with them anyway. So I looked into Android apps.

Trust me – Android’s app Market has grown to the point where you don’t really need to fear that there is no equivalent. They are different, certainly, but they are (mostly) equal in function. There are only a couple of apps I’m missing (which I use on my iPad anyway), and these are the comixology apps – including Comics, DC, and Marvel. Again, I don’t use these on my phone, but they are good to have for those boring moments. HOWEVER – I expect that comixology are working on an Android app as we speak. They’ve done so well on iPhone, and with the success of Android, they can only do better. So I can wait.

Once I got to this point, well… there was no stopping me. I could have all the functionality of my iPhone, and it wouldn’t be too much trouble. Problem was, they looked so different. They have these funky menu buttons and I just didn’t get it. So what did I do? I chose Samsung’s Galaxy S. The most iPhone-looking non-iPhone on the market today. It looks more like an iPhone than iPhone 4 does. So that’s some small comfort for me.

Well… What’s it like on the other side of the fence???

To be honest – it’s great. Different, sure. But great. In reality, when it comes to touch functionality, both Apple and Google have it worked out. Android looks and feels a lot like iOS – to some degree, at least. But then again, how can you present apps in any other way than as button icons on such a small screen? Of course, there’s a lot more to Android than first impressions – you have a great deal more control over the actual unit, you can get reports on battery usage, you can customise virtually everything, and there are home screen widgets for time-saving awesomeness. Multiple applications can be installed at a time, updating is easy, switching between tasks is just as simple. Multitasking seems to be very similar to iPhone (iOS4 at least), really, so all this hullaballoo about no multitasking on iPhone is all bandwagon jumping and was blown way out of proportion by netizens that love to see the big names torn down (i.e., all of them). OK, multitasking is BETTER on Android, but it’s not so different that it justifies Android over iPhone. Sorry haters.

But there are some areas in which the Android OS falls down. It’s a bit slower than iOS, for one. Ever so slightly less responsive. It also crashes on occasion (but that might be the fault of the user), and it has just as bad reception as my 3GS had – that could be the fault of my carrier, of course. And truth be told – iPhone is idiot-proof. It’s so damned easy to use that it’s difficult to fault. Even the App and iTunes Stores are slightly easier to navigate than the Android equivalents (if you can find an Android equivalent for iTunes music store, that is), and while DoubleTwist is a great program to use for handling your music, movies, and the like, it isn’t as plug-and-play as iTunes is (although it also doesn’t eat through your memory and slow down your system like iTunes does).

A few things did blow me away, though. Swype functionality is great, and should become standard on all touch devices. It loses its mind-blowing capacity as the screen size increases, but it’s still pretty rad. Using the phone as Wireless Access Point or as a tethered modem is also pretty damn awesome, but I understand this can incur additional fees with some carriers (and I think iPhone 4 tethers as well). Write-and-Go is useful, and 720p video on Galaxy S is pretty cool, too. Oh, and the FM radio app – while I might not NEED it, it’s certainly good to have, especially considering I don’t have a functioning radio in my car at present, and I occasionally enjoy listening to the morning show on Triple J.

Overall? This has shown me that iPhone is NOT the only great phone on the market today. I’m not convinced that Android phones are better (not yet, that is), but they are at the very least on par. However, it has also demonstrated that iPhones really are great phones. I wasn’t simply a mindless drone – the phone really is great.

So, my advice – if you are in the market for a new super-awesome-do-everything phone, you have more than one option available to you. At least give Android a look-in! If you have an iPhone now and are considering trying out an Android phone – all those niggles in the back of your mind, they don’t matter that much. Provided you give it a bit of thought, Android will do everything your iPhone does (and likely more) – oh, and you won’t be locked to iPhone for life. That’s a bonus.

Update: Holy CRAP. I couldn’t wait. I had to update this post as soon as I came across this… There is one enormous problem with Android phones – there’s no iTunes. Well, no equivalent, anyway. DoubleTwist, you might say? Well, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but syncing music with the damn thing takes forever, and the music all ends up in the videos folder. Not only that, but it’s a HUGE pain in the ass – I’m not a playlist user, you see, and it seems that all those that LOVE their DoubleTwist sync their music using playlists.. What I love about iTunes is the drag-and-drop simplicity of the program. It might make your system run like BALLS, but dammit – it makes putting music and movies on your phone a damned BREEZE. I have music on my Galaxy now… but it took me 3 hours, and involved the use of Windows Explorer. Yuck. Please Google… Make a program to sync with Android phones!

Super quick addition: Windows Media Player (of all progs) actually does a great job of replacing iTunes. I’ll do a write-up on it shortly.

Sony, of course, has their own version of achievements, released some time after Microsoft debuted them on Xbox… They refer to them as PlayStation Trophies. At its most basic, the idea is sound – trophies of varying levels (bronze, silver, gold and platinum) are awarded for certain gaming events. Each trophy is worth a certain amount of points (based on the level of trophy), and after a certain amount of these points, you “level up”. It seems simple enough, and it’s not too far removed from the idea behind Xbox achievements… But why do I care so little when I score myself a trophy? Let’s investigation!

Firstly, and most importantly, there’s the “Sync Operation”. WTF is that all about, Sony? Every time you want to check out some detail on your trophies (or your friends), you need to endure an extremely lengthy loading process. Xbox doesn’t take anywhere near this long – I know they’re different systems, but maybe it’s time someone looked into WHY this happens, and tried to fix it? In reality, the sync operation (and its lengthiness) is my biggest problem with trophies. I want to compare myself to my friends, and I want to do it NOW.

Then there’s the (seemingly) arbitrary point value of trophies and the level-up process itself. OK – the value might not be arbitrary, but it’s just confusing. “Yay – I got a silver trophy… That means I will be level 7… eventually! Yay! And currently I am… about halfway between level 6 and level 7! Woohoo!” Really Sony, what the hell were you drinking when you planned it all out? If you were going to copy (which is fine by me – good ideas SHOULD be copied), just go all out and copy properly! Don’t try to ‘differentiate yourself’!

I must say at this point (and by way of providing some sort of stress relief) – the flash on the screen that tells me that I’ve won a trophy excites me just as much as it does on Xbox, so there is some merit here. The problem is that I don’t know where I’m at overall, and it’s such a struggle to compare yourself with your mates. Such a struggle… Sigh.

Then there’s the issue of the levels themselves. They seem to mean nothing. Sure, hardcore gamers are going to be familiar with the idea of levels (especially RPG players), but generally they mean something. Here, my friend is level 7, and I am level 6, and that just means he’s that little bit better. I guess it’s not much of a gripe, but I see little need for levels if the levels themselves are just numbers.

So.. I want it to be good (better, at least), but how to fix it? Work out some way to speed up the syncing process. Perhaps it could sync in the background on powering up the PS3 and save a temporary file somewhere – I don’t care. It just needs to be faster. The other important thing – be clear on how many points each trophy is worth (i.e., 5 for bronze, 10 for silver, 20 for gold, 30 for platinum, and so on), and make this OBVIOUS. Put some sort of clearer indication as to your progress above the progress bar (i.e., 60/100, or 60%, or whatever). Having a level is great and all, but if my mate and I are both level 6, then I want to know I’m 10% better. Or worse. Whatever the case may be.

The experience has always been poor. Unclear. Blurry. Lacking colour. Simply a money-making tool by way of being "different" and often targeted at kids.

And then suddenly – very much out of the blue – TV manufacturers started saying that the next generation of TVs would be 3D-capable. Every second movie claimed to be "in glorious 3D". Some were good; others, very bad.

Immediately, the people did cry out, and the response was to be expected. “Why? It’s just a gimmick – who would want a 3D TV anyway?” My own post a few months back said much the same – and it was all based on previous experience. But I think I’ve changed my mind… again.

To date, 3D has not been done well. Our experience has been bad, and few people have really enjoyed it. Of those that did, they couldn’t imagine ALL their viewing to be in 3D.

Then Avatar was released, and people were amazed at the clarity. Subsequent 3D movies have been released to varying critique, depending on the technique used, but others, such as the recent release of Toy Story 3, have again resulted in positive response. Sure, some people can’t handle it for too long, and that’s to be expected. And others still just don’t get it. Not everybody is going to like everything, it just doesn’t work that way.

However, one thing that is being omitted in all this discussion around whether we think we need 3D is… It’s finally being done well, at long last. It’s going to become a part of our lives, whether we like it or not, so rather than complain and whinge, we should probably accept the inevitable. Of course, the biggest problem is that the ‘3D revolution’ has come just after we all spent big dollars on an HD TV, so I expect the process to be slow.

But that’s not to say it won’t happen. The tech is available, money has been spent by manufacturers and moviemakers alike. It’s a choice – you can use it, or you can ignore it, but it will be there. Early adopters have already forked out their cash for 3D in the home. Soon enough, the impressionable will get their hands on the tech, and begin to design their purchase plans. And the great majority will look on in envy, and will update their tech given time.

But what’s it like? To be honest, it depends on the tech. You could get an expensive TV with cheap glasses, but find that you have to sit in a specific position to receive the 3D effect. You could find a different solution and find that you can view the 3D from any perspective – but each set of glasses will set you back a pretty penny. You could get yourself an upcoming TV that does NOT require glasses, and find that the technology is lacking, as you MUST sit directly in front to receive the tech (which works for Nintendo’s 3DS, by all accounts, but not for a communal TV). The thing is – you’re really going to need glasses if you want the best experience at home.

And that’s the thing – the experience is good. Really good. I played Left 4 Dead 2 (PC version) over a 3D projector with 3D glasses (expensive ones at $200 a pair) and was fairly blown away. Picture clarity remains, with no "ghosting" that was experienced in the past – everything looks solid. Colour depth is on par with the 2D version. Basically, the experience was equal to the standard format; however, there was depth to what was being displayed. Items "popped out" in your field of vision, and seemed to obscure other items. It was somewhat easier to work out where you were within 3D space. It’s not something I would ALWAYS want to do (you couldn’t exclusively do 3D), but it’ll really add to some experiences…

What it DIDN’T do was add anything more than the experience. There was no added functionality or advantage to playing in 3D, it just felt and looked better – much like the difference between Avatar 3D and Avatar 2D. In fact, when I last watched Avatar in full HD (Blu-Ray disc), the experience wasn’t as grand as in 3D. It was still impressive, sure, but 3D adds something. And when it’s missing, you can tell it’s missing – but only if you’ve experienced it otherwise.

I guess what I’m trying to say is… 3D looks and feels great. It’s coming, regardless of whether you think it’s a gimmick or not. And it’s likely to be more impressive than you are expecting. But whether or not you NEED it is a different story. In fact, it’s not a different story – you DON’T need it. But I’m telling you right now – I’ve had a taste, and I’m pretty sure I want it… If only it wasn’t so expensive… And if I had money… Sigh.

For a yearly fee of $49.95US, subscription will garner gamers with free PSN titles (how and when this happens has not been revealed – monthly perhaps? bestsellers?), additional demos (or preferential demos), Beta invites, and automatic updates – there’s possibly more involved, but these are things I am aware of. Free titles offered under subscription will only be valid while your subscription remains valid, but this is a sound decision to me – it at least validates the need for a subscription, although some PS3 owners don’t think this is fair (the “why can’t I have everything for free?” argument is common in today’s day and age).

The good news (for those interested)? It’s coming very soon – apparently by the end of June (29th June is the date that has been announced). New subscribers get the first three months free, but I’m not sure how this works – perhaps you get 15 months for the price of 12? There is also a 3-month option if you want to give it a trial first. Me? I’m going to sign up for the full year. If the odd free game here and there wasn’t enough, automatic updates made it a go for me – depending on what is meant by ‘automatic update,’ that is. Sounds to me like updates and patches (but possibly only system updates?) are pushed to your system by the Network, and will download while your system is idle (or at least if there is a certain amount of bandwidth/processing power available). If this is accurate, then sign me up now. NOT having to update when you suddenly get the itch to get your game on sounds like a good thing to me!

[Update]: Check out more detail at the Australian PlayStation site. This clears up some of the above (how many free games, how automatic updates work) and has TOTALLY sod me on the service. Come June 29th, I’ll be signing right up. (Thanks @Disco_box!)

Microsoft Kinect

At it’s most basic, it’s a camera with a microphone embedded – but in reality, it’s a great deal more than that. While it can be used as a camera (and can be used for video conferencing between Xboxes AND PC’s using MSN, which is pretty awesome), it’s main function is motion detection. It can detect a human body in 3D space, including finer movements, and it can recognise faces. What does this mean for gaming? Controller-free gaming. "Emotional" interaction. Automatic login based on recognition. Whole body engagement. There are plenty of arguments for and against this kind of technology – on one hand, many gamers have little interest in jumping about, and simply play games to NOT move, while on the other hand – this kind of tech is not really developed for core games, as much as the manufacturer will protest that they aim to support core gamers with the device. Myself? I see some benefits – it’s certainly something new (although similar to PS Eye), and it looks like a bit of fun… BUT – it also looks like something core gamers will tire of after a week or two, much like they did Wii (much like I did). However, given the success of Wii, it is VERY likely that Kinect will be targeted at casual, social, and family gaming more so than hardcore gaming, so success is an unknown at this time…

Sony Playstation Move

Comparisons with Nintendo’s Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller abound, and for good reason. Playstation Move consists of a handheld wand controller, with a navigation attachment for character movement. The difference is that it works in combination with the Playstation Eye camera, and as a result offers some different gameplay functionality – or so it is said. Accuracy is said to be perfect, movement 1:1, and there are buttons. I can’t disagree with Sony’s assertion that gamers want buttons, but I also can’t disagree with the fact that many gamers hate motion control. But again, we must return our attention to the success of Wii. Thus – Sony has released their own motion controller – to cash in, perhaps? But who can blame them. And if it works as well as they say it does, then that’s a good thing. Oh, and with the size of blu-ray discs, developers can put two games on one disc – a controller-based title, and a Move title. It might not happen often, but it’s a GREAT idea. Dead Space 2 has been announced to include a port of the Wii on-rails shooter ‘Dead Space: Extraction’ on the disc, and this has virtually sold me already. Awesome. That said, a lot of what has been demonstrated so far is yet to have impressed me… but we’ll see.

Nintendo 3DS

Ah, Nintendo. They’ve been hardworking pioneers of late, have they not? First, they pioneered motion control with the Wii, to much derision in the market. They then pioneered touch and dual screens in gaming with the DS, again, to cries of "WTF". And look at them now. Nobody can touch them. Regardless of your opinion of Wii or DS, they have grabbed a new market by the throat, and are virtually the only players on the scene. Hence, Sony and Microsoft announcing their new tech. Now? Nintendo is taking on 3D directly. Not only will they be releasing 3D games (like Sony are with PS3), they are releasing a handheld 3D system. It’s a ballsy move, but a smart one. Sony is hedging their bets on people going out and buying a 3D TV… and I doubt this will happen very soon – most of us just forked out a bunch of cash on an HD TV. Nintendo, on the other hand, are releasing a new system that comes with its own 3D screen. No need for glasses. No need for add-ons. It will sell in droves, and let’s face it, it might even drive sales of 3D TVs in the process. Regardless of the tech itself, 3DS will sell bucket loads, and Nintendo will damn well deserve it. Good show. I want one already.

And that’s that. To be clear, I plan to get all of the above. I love gaming, and I love experiencing all kinds of game types, although admittedly, I’m not big on motion. Who knows? Perhaps competition will drive developers to create more quality titles? (Sorry Nintendo, but much of the Wii’s back catalogue is pretty crap.) It’s a good time to be a gamer. An EXPENSIVE one, but good nonetheless. Join us.

Following the release of iPad, a number of publishers have released magazines to the market – some critics consider them a little expensive compared to their physical counterparts, but overall it’s not that bad (for Aussies at least, where Wired mag usually costs $15/month). Subscription methods have been announced, but are yet to be released; however, the magazines themselves are promising. It’s WAY too early to make a call for the greatest digital mag ever, but I thought I’d grab a few, and do a little write-up on what’s good, and what’s bad – even though it’s still early in the game. Hopefully someone will read my post and refine their mag.

Wired

Wired magazine was released to a good deal of acclaim – and some (probably nit-picking) criticism. In reality, though, it does a lot of things very well, and in my opinion, should be an example for digital mags to come – but it’s not perfect.

What it does well

• There’s quite a lot of interactivity in the magazine. Songs, interactive photos, videos, and many other embedded into various pages really adds to the overall experience.
• They’ve really tried to employ varied techniques, so nothing feels too overused.
• Navigation is simple and intuitive, and nothing ‘gets in the way’ (this is a clumsy term, I know, but it’s the only way I can think to explain it).
• Really well designed – it’s laid out well, but it also looks good.

What it doesn’t do well

• Videos are opened up in new windows (QuickTime or what-not). This is not a huge deal, but it does distract from the magazine feel. Plus, it’s just not as cool. It’s a kind of “Internet effect” – it just feels like you’re surfing.
• 500mb+ is just WAY too big. It’s not a huge problem – you can download to iTunes, then copy it over, and you do get the whole mag in one go, but it’s still surprisingly large.
• Occasionally it felt like an addition was there simply because there wasn’t one for a while… It didn’t happen too often, but some added interactivity seemed like an afterthought.

Popular Science

PopSci+ (the title of the app) also tries to do something different, rather than just offering iPad-viewable versions of the magazine. While not as good as Wired (in my opinion), it’s still a way ahead of other competitors.

What it does well

• Strangely, PopSci+ employs a ‘see-through page’ technique, whereby there is a static picture in the background, and the text scrolls upwards across it (background pictures also change as you scroll through ‘pages’). This is good and bad – you can get rid of the text to look at the full screen image, which is a nice touch, and it means there are a number of additional images to peruse.
• As there have been three digital releases so far, a pricing structure is now evident. The oldest magazine (now two months old) can be purchased for AU$3.99, while newer mags are AU$5.99. In reality, this is how it should be (although I’m not referring to the specific prices when I say that…), but it is good to see it in practice.

What it doesn’t do well

• The see-through page technique doesn’t feel right. It’s a good idea, sure – but it’s a bit weird for some reason… I guess it doesn’t feel intuitive (for want of a better word).
• The mag doesn’t employ anything more than additional images and interactive text, so in a way, it feels like a whole lot of scrolling… It also doesn’t seem to be worth it, compared to the physical magazine… Overall, it feels a bit gimmicky.
• Navigation is confusing at first. It’s not overly complicated, but it certainly isn’t as obvious as that employed by Wired.

Time

Time magazine is available as a free app that can be used to look over the contents of available editions and then buy a magazine in the app itself. In order to reduce the size of the download, fewer fancy-schmancy techniques are employed. Time has received quite a good rap since it’s release, but as you can see below, I am perplexed as to why this is the case.

What it does well

• Time manages to maintain the look and feel of the physical mag, while adding some additional features (mainly just photos and videos). There’s not a great deal of extra stuff, but it looks so good it’s easily forgivable. Looking at photos full screen is a dream. It really feels like Time magazine.
• Videos are embedded into the magazine itself. You can watch it as part of the ‘page’ or make it full screen. This really adds to the overall experience and decreases the “Internet effect”.
• The app includes a method of downloading current content from the Time website. This is a good addition, as it negates the need to visit the external site (if that’s something you do).

What it doesn’t do well

• Too expensive. Each edition should be less expensive than the physical magazine, particularly to entice new readers. Readership might be low in the digital space, but that doesn’t mean that prices should increase… Consider the Kindle Edition. Monthly pricing is US$2.99. That’s around AU$5 for 4 issues. Sure, there’s no interactivity, videos, additional photos, or feeds from the site, but how are those additions worth a 400%+ premium?
• Editions go back two months, yet the exorbitant pricing remains at AU$5.99 – even 8 issues back! This is extremely unreasonable.
• While the look and feel of the mag is great, it’s not pushing the boundaries of digital distribution. It’s somewhat disappointing, to be honest.
• Videos stream from the ‘net instead of coming along with the download. Makes sense to reduce download times and size on HDD, but sucks if you are in an area with slow/no connection (for example, during a flight). In addition, due to size and streaming, I found myself waiting for my content… Sometimes for minutes at a time. This is no good – if it’s part of the magazine, it should be ready to go at any time. Lastly (this video issue is a big one) – if you are buffering the video, and you accidentally swipe to the next page, or the screen rotates to portrait, you have to start buffering again. This is a HUGE pain in the ass, and one that has caused me no end of headaches.

APC

Similar in scope (in fact, the app itself looks virtually identical) to the Time app, APC mags are purchased from a free app available at the app store. APC magazine has employed the fewest techniques, but they haven’t added a premium to the price, which is good…

What it does well

• It’s cheaper than the price of the physical mag. This is the only magazine that can truly say this as fact. For Australians, Wired and Popular Science are also cheaper than in Australian newsagencies, but that’s mainly due to the fact that our newsagents have to import physical magazines, and the price doubles/triples as a result.
• Physical magazine has been redesigned to best suit the iPad in landscape mode. As a result, it looks good and is easy to scroll through.
• Again, videos are deployed within the page itself, although again they are streamed from the ‘net. Further, multiple photographs are occasionally included as a slideshow on the page itself – flick through by finger on the magazine page itself, or click a button for a full page slideshow. This works quite well – if you notice that there are multiple pics, that is…

What it doesn’t do well

• Like Time, it feels no different to the physical magazine. With all the techniques at hand, it feels like a waste of money (yes, even given that the price is cheaper than the actual mag).
• Additional features are applied randomly. Considering the wealth of photos/videos/etc., that would be available, it seems like a missed opportunity that (for example) only one out of three movie reviews contained a preview of the movie.

As a result of my little reading experiment, I’ve come up with the below suggestions… Hopefully someone takes note (particularly when sculpting the digital versions of National Geographic and New Scientist, please).

What should become standard

• Videos playing within the magazine – this should be employed by all as it just seems common sense. EXTRA content is OK to be streamed, but videos that are part of the issue itself should come part and parcel with the download. This will result in larger INITIAL downloads, but I’m fine with that, provided the overall experience is solid.
• Interactivity should be less of a gimmick, and more of a way to improve the experience.
• More, more, more! It can’t be that hard! Don’t just provide a carbon copy of the magazine unless the price is a good deal cheaper.
• All links should be active. It’s a ‘net-enabled device, dammit!
• Links to current online content within the app is a good idea.

What was a nice try, but should be left out in future

• The see-through page technique used by PopSci+ shouldn’t be applied to the whole magazine. It DOES look good, but it also gets a bit too much after a while – some other techniques thrown in would really break up the monotony.
• Speaking of monotony… With all the interaction that’s possible, just having a scrollable page with no additional bits is a bit lame, really – it seems like a cop out.
• No streaming/downloading within the magazine itself – what if I have no access to the ‘net?

In summary, things are looking good – some companies are really going all-out to push the boundaries of the magazine format. Things are only going to get better in the coming months, and I think we are going to find that the success of some magazines will prompt revision of both pricing and format for others. At present, it seems some publishers are trying to capitalise on the sudden boom without making any concerted effort, but I think this will decrease with time.

Things can only get better. That said – I think the only magazine I’m keen to buy again (at this stage, at least) is Wired. Give it some time – I’m hoping we will be spoilt for choice in 6 month’s time.

And yet here we are. iPad has been out for all of four days, and I have one easing about in my possession. What the…? How could I change my mind so suddenly? Those that know me well will be laughing to themselves as they prepare to call me a knob (and I’m bracing for backlash). But in defense of my predictability - it really all comes down to my initial experience at the Apple store.

On arriving at the store, I was blown away by the number of people that were there. It was surreal.  There were people EVERYWHERE, and most of them were playing with iPads. You simply HAD to be impressed – at least with the power of the Apple marketing machine. At first, I planned to give up and walk away – in which case, I would not be the owner of an iPad. However, the wife wanted to check it out – “You came here, you may as well play around with one” was her more-than-sensible argument. So I did.

It was actually a little bigger than I expected. In fact, the screen size and ratio is not as bad as I had originally thought. It fits nicely in your hand, although it is a little heavy for one-handed usage. A widescreen format would have looked and felt unwieldy. The screen is even better than iPhone screen, if that’s possible, and the size allows for TRUE multi-touch.  It’s beautiful to behold.  That said – it was an easy argument to call this a big iPhone, but in practice, it’s so much more than that – additional screen real estate leads to additional function, and this much is evident as soon as you load up an application. The similarities between the iPad and iPhone just goes to show that there is already so much that can be done on a mobile phone. Really, what my experience has done is reinforced how good the iPhone is – it’s basically a small computer with limited functionality. And there’s the kicker – the iPhone is very limited.

There is so much more that can be done on a tablet – and on the iPad, in particular. Having fiddled with it for a day now (and not going blind), I can safely say that iPad IS revolutionary – but not magical, not by any stretch of the imagination. The truth is – nobody NEEDS an iPad. It is not going to help you do better business, and it is certainly not going to replace your home PC, so do NOT go sell your notebook to buy an iPad. It’s revolutionary in that it is something new, different, and never seen before. Essentially, it fills a space between mobile/MP3 player, and personal computer – you might not think there is a need for this space, but give it a go. You’ll find you’re wrong. Well… maybe. I did. In a way, it’s a portable media player with additional functionality… It’s something new. And it’s great.

But it’s a luxury item, no bones about it. It doesn’t do anything that your phone or notebook can’t – but that’s not to say you won’t find a use for it. The beauty is in its portability. It’s much lighter than a notebook, it’s thinner, and it’s easy to carry about. If you want something to fit in your pocket, there’s an iPhone for that, but it won’t be anywhere near as good. This is something you can use anywhere, and it will give you most of the functionality of a PC, but not all of it. You can comfortably browse the ‘net, watch Youtube videos, read books, listen to music, and play games, and the screen size means it’s just like doing it on your PC. Minimal loss of functionality, and no squinting (you might be happy to watch TV shows on your mobile phone, but once you watch something on an iPad, you’ll understand what I mean). Sure, it’s not a book, but that’s because IT’S NOT A BOOK. If you think an iPad will be like a book, then you deserve to be disappointed (and you will be).

Now… why do I keep saying it’s ALMOST like using a PC… only with MINIMAL loss of functionality? The problem is the limitations of the keyboard. Even if it was a physical keyboard, it would still be limited. The issue is not in the software or anything like that.. the problem is in portability. In order to have such a mobile unit, you need to forgo a keyboard and mouse, and that takes some time to get used to. However, the point is – this is NOT a PC. It is not intended to replace your notebook for work purposes. It will perform all your usual simple entertainment tasks, and it will perform them very well, but if you want to do any major typing on it, you’re best… not doing that at all. It’s fine for replying to emails, searching the ‘net and the like, but it’s crap for writing long posts (which is why this was NOT typed on my iPad). But you know what? That’s not why I got it.

So why did I get it? For comics. For books. For digital media. To be able to access the Internet COMFORTABLY anywhere, anytime, without limitation. And for these things, it is perfect. More than I expected, even.

Now… let me change gears and talk about digital magazines. These are wonderful things, and they’re only going to get better. I bought further into the hype and grabbed this month’s edition of Wired magazine’s application. The benefit just for advertising is immediately apparent. Think about it – you can now have multiple-page advertising without taking up additional paper (which SHOULD reduce the cost). You can add video and other such interactive components to your ad, considerably increasing the likelihood that someone will spend more than 1 second perusing your product. Then take into account the possibilities for the magazine itself. On the front cover of this issue, you can watch a short trailer from Toy Story 3, just by touching a button. The possibilities are virtually endless. Already I’m excited about future digital mags. Fun times.

It’s not perfect though – and really, nothing is. Consider:

• With the size of the damned thing, and the various uses that could be employed, I’m a little perplexed as to why Apple has kept the same ‘home screen’ layout as iPhone. They had a great chance to allow for widget functionality on the home screen, and they didn’t take it. Strange. Perhaps it will come in a future software update? I certainly hope so.
• The keyboard is not for touch typists. Not at all. Luckily I’m a terrible one-finger-hunter at best, so it’s fine for me, but reaction time is a little slow, and you will occasionally find the screen refresh is a little behind. Plus, it’s no good for long bouts of writing, as mentioned, which might suck a little if you’d planned to use it that way.
• Using iPhone apps on iPad sucks. Sure, they don’t look THAT bad when you double size them (but let’s be honest, they don’t look as good as native apps), but you double size the controls as well, and for many games that just makes them unplayable. Those apps that come with iPad functionality, though… Magnifique. Seriously awesome. Epicurious app is so-so on iPhone, but really useful on iPad, and it all comes down to how much you can see on a single screen.
• No support for flash. It hasn’t affected me yet, but I’m sure it will soon enough. Not a big issue, really.
• No SD card reader/HDMI out/USB. Hmmm… I’ve put these down as limitations, but you know what? So what. I don’t actually need these things. Might be nice to have, but necessary? No. Not at all, actually. For example, I have a notebook with HDMI out, and I’ve never used it. One day I might, but for my iPad – if I really need to watch something on my TV, AV will do. I think a lot of people want the iPad to be a single answer to everything. But it’s not. Nothing will EVER be.
• Multitasking? Hopefully it will come in a future software update, as per iPhone 4.0 rumours.
• Closed system. This means nothing to me. But I choose to acknowledge it.
• No camera. I stand by my contention that I have no desire to point my iPad at you and say cheese. However, it really should have a front-facing camera for Skype. Then again, perhaps wifi/3G technology isn’t really in a place whereby it can pull it off well?

Anyway, when it comes to gripes… that’s all I’ve got, and most of them aren’t issues for me anyway. I’m more than happy with my purchase, and have found many awesome uses for it already. And I’m REALLY excited about the possibilities in future. Bring it on. The digital age cometh.

P.S. – Why wait for a second generation, really? I doubt there will be much more than software updates over the next couple of years, to be honest. Perhaps the next gen will have a front-facing camera and a faster processor, but I don’t consider either to be super necessary, myself – although a camera would be nice for Skype. Apple will never add USB ports, and I can live without SD card input, to be honest (although there is an add-on available that allows for SD card importing of photos). In reality – your phone is for taking random pictures, your iPad is for displaying them. That’s my thinking at least.

As I got older, though, I stopped reading – for whatever reason. I guess I was too cool for comics. Now, I have realised the error of my ways, and am getting back into it, but I’m totally not interested in collecting physical books – I’m all for digital. In fact, I’m all for digital EVERYTHING, not just comics. My music collection has been ripped in full to MP3 (that was a trial, let me tell you), many of my DVDs have been ripped to a HDD, and I’m a big fan of downloadable video games. I can not wait for everything to go digital, to be honest (although I do understand concerns around bandwidth, etc.).

Anyway – now that I’m back into comics, I’ve been looking into digital comics. Given that I am a bit of a geek, I’ve also looked over a few forums on the topic, and I often see the same phrase repeated over and over – that is, that "the digital ship has sailed". That is to say that the current market leaders in this space have won the market in full. And you know what? I couldn’t disagree more. In fact, I’m fairly unimpressed by what’s available so far – it’s obviously still in an embryonic stage, although there seem to be a lot of fans of the existing options… Which are really limiting. Let me explain.

Current options for digital goodness

At present, there are two streams of digital representation – one legal, and the other… not so much. On the not-so-legal front, you have the cbr/cbz format, and readers such as CDisplay and ComicRack. Essentially, cbr/z is just an archive of scanned page images – yep, just a bunch of jpegs. The programs work – they do what they need to do, and they do so (apparently) across PC/Mac/Linux. So if you’re not inclined to feel consumer guilt, then this is an option for you, and it’s easy and free. It’s just not really the right thing to do.

If, however, you’re like me and you would prefer to support your favourite books/writers/artists and so on, then your options are limited, unfortunately. Here, you have online readers, such as Marvel’s Digital Comics service, or you have iPhone readers, like Comics by Comixology (now also available on iPad). And that’s about all.

Don’t get me wrong – the iPhone apps are pretty good. I’ve only tried Comics and the Marvel app (also by comixology), and they both do the job really well, but there are just so many limitations. For one, while the iPhone is ultra portable and has a gorgeous screen, there’s only so much book reading I can do on my phone. And that amounts to ‘not much’. In addition… well, I might own an iPhone, but what about the masses that don’t? And while it’s true that the app is also available for iPad (which would be GREAT), let’s face it – do we ALL want an iPad? Tough question that, and to be honest I’m not quite sure where I’m at with that one… On a different note, another problem with the iPhone apps is that they are not up-to-date, and they are a bit expensive. $2.50 AUS for a several-month-old comic is not really justifiable. Two dollars? Maybe, but not $2.50 – the sweet spot for me would be about $1.50… Hell, I’d buy a couple of books a week for that much. At the moment, I’ve bought 4 or 5. Total.

Then there are the online readers offered by the publishers, most of which are just crap, unfortunately. The best of the bunch is Marvel’s option, their Digital Comics Unlimited service (link from below image). For a monthly/yearly fee, you have unlimited access to Marvels backlog. Sounds great? To some degree, it is. There are quite a few comics available (I think over 7000 now), and some classics, at that.

BUT! The reader is terrible. It doesn’t play well with tablet (touch) notebooks – that is, it doesn’t function properly in portrait mode – and isn’t that the reason you would want to use it on a tablet?? On top of that, there aren’t many options to make it work the way you like it (unless that comes with subscription), and sometimes it just crashes and doesn’t work right. And above all that – the comics are only available online. If you have no ‘net access, you can’t spend your five free minutes reading Spider-Man.

And then there are the gaps. Sure, there are many, many wonderful and glorious books from many moons ago, but some of the more recent ones (say 15-odd years ago) might be missing. This may not be too big an issue, considering they add a bunch of titles on a weekly basis, and there are already more books available than you might have time to read, but it might not be so good if you are enjoying a storyline and come across a gap…    

Lastly, there’s the recurring theme of "no recent issues". This is a pain – it basically means you can never be up-to-date unless you buy physical books. And to reiterate – I don’t want to buy physical books! I really need to reduce the amount of crap on my shelves…

What do I want and what’s holding us back?

I’m a realist, and I know it will take time to get to this point, but what I want is: readily available comic book reading, from the dawn of the concept to the most recent issues, spread across my choice of reader. That is, I want a single app that can sync across machines – from iPhone to PC to iPad to Xbox and so on and so forth. The Longbox project (pic at top of post) was extremely promising (in that it promised just that), but seems to have lost steam of late. And you know why? Publishers are afraid to lose money, so they don’t seem willing to sign up to the lofty ambitions of the project.

And this is the big issue. By offering cheaper books digitally, there is an increased chance of loss of revenue. There is increased chance of piracy. Possible death of retail comic book stores could result in decreased support. Thus, promises were made to not release anything digitally that was newer than 6 months old – to drive sales through comic book retailers.

But there’s a problem. Print is dying (OK – it will never die fully, particularly as diehard comic book fans NEED their ink), and it’s going to happen very soon… Magazine and newspapers have seen the light, and have begun taking a serious look at digital services, but comic book publishers are holding on to their cards. Piracy is already rife – all you need is a scanner and you can share any book. It’s all too easy, really. And it’s a huge loss of sales for the publishers – but who’s to say it won’t get worse when they do commit to digital comics?

This is where the problem lies. By supporting your retailers, you’re neglecting new sales. By supporting new sales, you’re neglecting your retailers, and possibly your existing fan base. Either way, the loss is a big deal.

Where does that leave us?

I think the issues will be somewhat favourably resolved within this year (at least, I hope so), although this is entirely conjecture on my part, based on the need at hand, and the buzz that has existed within the industry over the past couple of years. Publishers will really need to find a digital system they can all agree on, which can mimic a physical comic book store. Archives will need to be supplied and fulfilled, and this will take a good deal of time. Once new issues are available digitally, there will need to be some incentive for readers to buy physical books, to try to keep the stores alive. And really – I think this is where the major troubles are being found. What the hell can you deny your digital readers that won’t piss them off, but will keep your diehard fans happy?

FYI – all images in this post are linked to their respective programs.