This isn't really a comment on ST but on the digital magazine experience.

In my haste to see issue 54 (mine arrived today, thanks again Mark) I read a couple of features from the digital version. While you can get an overall feel of the mag and zoom to read the text and pictures it's not the same is it?

When reading a magazine (or a book) you take in the overall as well as the specific. Doing it on a computer means you have to view a specific area of the screen. It's less satisfying, for me anyway.

If youngsters (for want of a better term) grow up with only digital mags and books perhaps they will appreciatte it for what it is. Maybe my problem is having the baggage of traditional print.

What do we all think? Perhaps digital mags will actually need to be a development of what websites are now rather than trying to ape print? Or maybe as I said previously new generations raised solely with digital "print" will accept that format.

Just a thought to pass some of my unemployed spare time.

Not a digital subscriber (yet?) but despite being impressed with the technology of some of the other digital mags out there I can never really be bothered to actually read anything longer than about 200 words.

how long before there's an iphone stw reader app?

how long before there's an iphone stw reader app?

I noticed the Guardian have released theirs today

probably common app across guardian, stw and audi.net

iSmug?

LOL at MrMW 🙂

agree its harder to sit and read a big article in the digital versions, its just not quite the same.

Get a bigger monitor. Problem solved.

I like to read magazines while in the kharzi. The lead to my computer won't reach that far

how long before there's an iphone stw reader app?

It's in the pipeline I believe.

Tested the preview of the digital edition and worked great not sure what you mean here "When reading a magazine (or a book) you take in the overall as well as the specific. Doing it on a computer means you have to view a specific area of the screen. It's less satisfying, for me anyway." as to me it's the same.

digital chogging has all sorts of hygiene consequences

Similar to TJ – my magazine/book reading mainly takes place in the bath so digital is out for me

If I could be bothered to get my own laptop and not share Mrs BPs with her and mini BP then maybe I'd bother with the electronic mag. But sitting here now in the spare bedroom on this crappy "office chair" does not make for a good reading experience.

Even then I think I'd much rather flake out in an armchair reading a paper copy than faff around with hardware.

I've been a digital subscriber because I didn't want all that paper. But I don't enjoy or read it as much in PDF. Going back to paper version.

I've got a digital subscription to Bike mag. It was $12 for a year and seemed worth while to try it out. I'd never buy the actual magazine, but for that price its brilliant to read whilst on the train/plane when I've got a spare 30 minutes.

The reading takes a little while to get used to, but its actually quite OK once you get used to it. Note that Bike have their own digital reader and not PDF.

I'm seriously considering getting the digital version of ST so that I can read the back copies, and because then I can justify buying The Ride and Rouleur 😉

Will just add that I just purchased a paper subscription for a friend today for a Christmas gift as he is not really the type who would read on-line.

I think its a pain in the bum,wouldnt bother,having tried several dig mags,doesnt even come close to the real thing and as for convenience for me a paper mag is far easier to carry or access than either carrying a laptop or sitting in front of a screen

Love the pdf 🙂
far prefer it to the paper mag, no storage problems, no paper wastage and far easier all round.
Satisfaction factor of a paper version, never 'got' that one, books OK but not mags………

I has a free digital subscription to 'Outside' magazine which used the Zinio viewer which was much nicer than paging through a PDF. However, they still persisted in using portrait format.

I don't think digital mags (or anything else for that matter) which uses portrait format is ever going to work properly on a PC/laptop. There's always far too much scrolling around the screen for comfort.

Please publishers, switch to landscape!

I'm overseas so the PDF s far better than waiting…

Even with paper, I tend to read the articles and then go back and look at the pics or vice versa; as such being zoomed in or out doesn't bother me really.

However, the call for landscape is a good one.

Even on a 24" monitor they are awkward to read. And if you zoom to 100% to get the sharpest image then you can't scan the entire page like a magazine.

Websites work great on a screen. PDFs designed to be printed don't work so well yet.