There has been a lot of talk over the past few years about the death of print media and especially newspapers and their beloved comic strips. The birth of the iPhone stirred some hope and excitement with the possibilities of receiving that content digitally, though the limitations of the format and size of the device has made some skeptics. And of course there are the rumors of the anticipated Apple Tablet with a larger touch-screen and a more powerful OS. Some have described it as a suped-up color version off Amazon’s Kindle able to play a wide variety of media. But how could machine like that save the shriveling magazine and newspaper industries?
Well take a look at this video with Terry Mcdonald editor of Sports Illustrated produced by The Wonderfactory in New York.
All I can say is “Wow!” I love the interactive page layouts and the ability to interact and organize the content.It’s more than a web page; It’s still print but it’s dynamic print without reverting to full motion or some sort a television hybrid. It’s clean, efficient, and exciting. Now, I know that it’s just an animated video of what could be and not a demonstration of an actual product, but, if they can pull anything close to this off —the possibilities are amazing.
Can you imagine MAD Magazine in this format? Or how about a comic section (who needs the newspaper; just the comics) where you get to choose your own comic strips and see them…wait for it…in a READABLE size! Wow, that’s ground breaking right there. It might even encourage some cartoonists to start drawing better since the audience would be able to actually see the art again. How about the option to remove the color and see the strip in glorious B&W (just like God intended dailies to be)? Or, for those of you bereft of imagination, a little limited animation to spice it up?
These are exciting (albeit, expensive) times!
Check out more via The Daily Cartoonist.
