How to Make Magazine Apps That Don’t Suck

Let’s nerd out for a minute and talk about TechCrunch’s recent article about bad magazine apps (I promise it’s more interesting than it sounds).

So, The Daily is dead, and columnist MG Siegler isn’t surprised. Magazines haven’t found their footing in the tablet ecosystem yet, says Siegler. “A tablet magazine should be built for the tablet from the ground up. It should not be a magazine ported directly from print.”

Who needs skeuomporphic animated page turns? Why spend time and money dropping a bloated PDF into a fancy (also expensive) new container?

It’s a shame to see perfectly fine technology go to waste. Siegler puts it best: “It’s fucking ridiculous.”

Check out the article for some fantastic insight on how to save the future of digital publishing.

***
 — Benjamin Samuel is co-editor of Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading. “Skeuomorph” recently became one of his favorite words. You can find him here.