Yesterday I saw a 26-second movie being used as a magazine cover described as the kind of thing that will enable the iPad to ‘save’ magazines. But I didn’t like splash screens on websites, and I don’t like pre-roll ads on video, so why would I want this? People are falling all over themselves to tout the “immersive” experience this kind of development allows. It’s cool for some stuff, sure. I’m just getting a little fatigued by how many things people want to turn into a Total Experience.
A blog entry at O’Reilly complains that stand-alone magazine apps are trapping information in silos. For now that has to be an artifact of the iPad debuting without multitasking or fast switching. The smoother the switching, the more insistently the advertisers will demand hooks to their properties, so at least some of this has a built-in shelf life. But it’s still being brought to us by the companies behind the Power of Print (under its oh-so-evocative logo). I can’t wait for this thing to get to version 2, and let some of this hype/handwringing play out already.