There’s no doubt that the iPad is a superb delivery device for magazines, books, and browsing the net. Magazines in particular work really well in this new format. The large uncluttered screen allows for well designed magazine layouts, without limitation in typography or illustration, and introduces a whole new dimension of interactivity.
However, there is a downside to this. As yet, there is no common, more efficient delivery method. Unlike books, which can be purchased and downloaded through either Apples’ iBooks app or Amazons’ Kindle, each magazine packages their own downloader — and those downloads can be huge. There are only so many 500Mb issues of Wired that you can fit even on the largest iPad.
We’re almost there, and this is definitely the device to take us there!
Cost of the device – iPads are clearly prohibitively expensive for the majority of folks, limiting the market
Only a handful of truly interactive Magazines, such as Wired
Delivery format: current crop of interactive magazines are very large in size, filling up a lot of space on the iPad
Tonight is the second of my “twitter” excursions. Heading over to IllegalJacks on Lothian road for a South-West Grill then drinks after with a crowd of local tweeters.
It’s fascinating the community that has grown up around Twitter. I’ve met more interesting people in Edinburgh over the past month than I have in the past 10 years (however I’m not sure what that says about me other than ‘Get out more Shell!’). There is a thriving active community here of folks who meet up regularly: twice hooked up with twitter folks to see films at the Filmhouse cinema, not so long ago the grand scale charity even of EdTwestival.
It has also put me in contact with some of my heroes: I’ve tweeted with writers, artists, designers, even film stars, making me feel part of a strange virtual global community…
Tonight is the first film from the Japanese Foundations “Girls on Film” tour, which has now reached our favorite local cinema The Filmhouse. It’ll be refreshing to see some contemporary Japanese films having somewhat overdosed on the recent Ozu film season.
Most looking forwards to “How to become myself” and “Asyle”, both of which have interesting write-ups.
I had a digital copy of this film for a while, but over the weekend it popped up in my LoveFilm queue and then on my doorstep today. I enjoyed it (as much as it is possible to enjoy a war film): Nicely shot, with smooth direction and interesting characters. But was this an Oscar film? I am a long-time fan of director Kathryn Bigalow, “Near Dark” and “Strange Days” being high on my list of favorite films. However despite super-slick slow-mo this film didn’t strike me as anything new. It’s not a bad film, but it didn’t stretch the genre: nothing here you’ve not already seen in GenerationX.
Not a Japanese film for a change, but this time a contemporary Chinese film. Ming Ming (2006): Visually striking, this film betrays female director Susie Au’s extensive music-video background: Flashy jump-cuts, rapid-fire scenes & neon colours, this film both reminds me of Sin City and numerous Guy Richie films (although less violent). It’s all rather jarring from the outset, but it soon finds a beat with the help of a strange hook of a story and rather attractive protagonists. The soundtrack you’ll either love or hate (we loved it), but it’s a hard mash of sound just as jumbled as the visuals. Killer marbles, orange hair, slow mo & $5m. An interesting mix!
Sirin and I attended the first session of the Japanese Culture and Film course on Monday, with a showing of the beautiful “Princess Mononoke” from the ever wonderful Studio Ghibli. It wasn’t our first viewing of this anime, but it certainly hasn’t lost any of its charm. Director Hayao Miyazaki (probably most famous for “Spirited Away” in the West) remains, for me, one of the all time great directors ‘despite’ (cautiously used) working the field of animation.
Coincidentally I’m reading a collection of his essays (“Starting Point: 1979-1996″) for BiteSizedJapan which charts many of his inspirations, influences, and thoughts on the animation process. It’s quite fascinating stuff, and certainly inspires me!
Tonight was our next film in the fantastic Yasujiro Ozu season at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh. Again tonight’s film was a new one for us, and somewhat unexpected after the serious nature of the Ozu films that we have seen. “Ohayo…” (Good morning…) was a beautifully realistic slice of Japanese life, set in and around the breakfast tables of shoulder-to-shoulder suburban family homes. Very funny (fart jokes abound, I’m not kidding!) and telling (the nosy neighbors with nothing better to gossip about), this tail follows the antics of two young brothers up to mischief. It’s a great film, but desperate for some restoration love!
While much of the UK is snowed in, we decided to take a stroll up the Water of Leith on Saturday (rather than risk a trip outside of the city). Gorgeous and bitingly cold morning, but the river was really pretty. Much of the lower end of the river was frozen over, leaving the resident ducks looking peckish!
Seems to be part of being an editor is to read and watch absolutely everything to do with your magazines subject. Maybe that’s obvious, and I’m not complaining.
Over the next few weeks Sirin and I are following the Yasujiro Ozu season up at The Filmhouse Cinema. I have to confess I’d never seen any of this classic Japanese directors work, and we were pleasantly surprised by “Tokyo Story” last night. Unexpectedly accessible for a Japanese a movie of the 50s, with exceptional attension to details: the relationships between the depicted family members was almost painful to watch at times as our “hands” (as mere voyeurs) are tied and out vision fixed by the static knee-high camera work. It’s a great film, the characters believable and the story down to Earth, and as someone who studies Japanese culture this film really felt like a snapshot of “real life” in post-war Japan.
There’s no doubt that the iPad is a superb delivery device for magazines, books, and browsing the net. Magazines in particular work really well in this new format. The large uncluttered screen allows for well designed magazine layouts, without limitation in typography or illustration, and introduces a whole new dimension of interactivity.
