I’m surprised that I can’t find anyone else who has commented on this.
At the start of the month I received an email with information of how I could "breeze through the latest issue" of Recruiter on my screen.
Here’s how it works: –
1. Click on the bottom corner to turn pages
2. Click on the page to enlarge articles
3. Click on web addresses to link directly to other websites
It certainly looks slick and it’s easy to turn pages/zoom etc. However, I found it annoying to have to keep zooming in and then out again as I read a story and then browsed for the next one I wanted to read. I get that they wanted to keep the look of the printed publication but it’s just not user friendly enough for me.
Anyone else got any thoughts?
Great comments Louise, which I thoroughly agree with! Our local business magazine in Wales went to this online format early this year, and its horrible to read.
My conclusion is that the revenue the publishers measure is purchased editions, and that as this online edition is so difficult to read it makes it more likely that you will buy the paper version/register to receive it. What they seem to miss is that advertisers want both paper and online versions, and much as though this gives them the ability to say to a potential advertiser that they have an online edition – its not!
The problem for publishers in the new online world will always be: how do we monetise content? This format is not the answer for me as a reader
Thanks for this post – I didn’t even know it was available online so your link was really useful. I normally like to have a grump about things but infact I found the presentation quite easy to navigate – click to zoom in, click again to zoom out. Mind you I’d like to find somewhere to comment upon one or two of the articles I read there – particularly the one by Rockpools about diversity. I found that article to be wishful thinking and dare I say it “PC” rather than coinciding with my experience of the real world!
I can’t stand publications in this format. They might have some kind of initial wow factor but once you get into the practicalities of using them, they are completely awful. Web sites look like web sites for a reason and magazines look like magazines for a reason. In my opinion these formats are only adopted by publishers who haven’t properly thought about their strategic model for surviving in the digital age
Thanks for all your feedback.
so the voting is currently running at 75% against the digital edition and 25% for….
its an overengineered solution to a non existent problem – nobody has problems finding their way round a well organised website with good navigation.
in my opinion…
I didn’t think that it was hard to navigate around the digital edition and keeping the format makes it easier to browse. I am glad that they now have the online edition.