GQ | Dec 09 | Men of the Year Issue – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: CondeNet
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2009-11-18
Developer:
Price: 2.99
User Rating:
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With all this talk of an Apple Tablet in 2010 revolutionizing and reinvigorating the publishing business, everyone seems to keep forgeting that several libraries’ worth of books and magazines are already available via the App Store as individual apps. I managed to get my hands on one of those apps/magazines in the form of GQ’s Men of the Year issue for December 2009 (with five covers, including Clint Eastwood and Chris Pine).
I’ve never really read GQ as a magazine, but I have read magazines before (I subscribe to Time Out New York among other publications) and was curious about how it translated on the iPod Touch screen.
The short answer is "pretty well". The layouts are altered to accommodate the smaller canvas but it’s still readable (although many more pages have to be flipped through). There are buttons to adjust the text size and the digital magazine does have a landscape view for when the orientation is changed.
I found two problems with the concept: first, the text can be enlargened by tapping some size controls (four sizes in all). Why can’t we zoom in and out like we do in the Safari browser? Would that someone ruin the layout? The other problem is that in order to read the magazine you have to have an active WiFi or data connection. If I’m purchasing a magazine, I want the whole magazine in the palm of my hand without any additional hassles. I recognize that this may cause space issues on the device, but not nearly as much as having a single video file.
Overall, it’s a good concept if not perfect. It beats awkwardly carrying around a magazine. We’ll see what happens when the Apple Tablet is released.
Quick Take
Value:Medium to High.
Would I Buy Again:Possibly.
Learning Curve:Low.
Who Is It For:Lovers of technology and GQ.
What I Like:Good layout and content.
What I Don't Like:Only four text sizes rather than zoom. Have to download content while reading.
Final Statement:The next generation of magazines has arrived.
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