Tuesday 2 December 2014

Blimey! My Magazine Is Talking To Me!

As you may recall I have gone exclusively digital when it comes to wargames magazines, having been a WS&S PDF reader for some time, falling under Henry Hyde's spell when he took over MW and recently switching to digital for WI.

The latter is really making full use of the possibilities offered by the digital format, with photo slideshows within articles, 360 rotating views as well as video. Great stuff but  WI326 (December 2014) has now gone further with sound!

The Rules Showcase with Simon Miller's new Ancients rules includes a short video interview (alongside the article text) with the man himself, which is really interesting as much more can be covered by the spoken word than the written one.

Less cool was the battle sound effects that burst into life with the Ligny article which scared the life out of SWMBO as I was quietly reading my e-magazine when the Napoleonic Wars erupted from my iPad whilst she was watching Eastenders!

Obviously early days with WI testing what they can do with the opportunities offered digitally, but hopefully they rein in some of the out of the box thinking or soon it'll be "my magazine is singing to me!" :-)


5 comments:

  1. There have been a few videos in WI recently, but I've not encountered the sound effects yet though. Probably because I rarely have sound enabled. Thanks for the warning!
    I wonder if this is part of the update that iBooks just told me about?

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    1. It would have been somewhat more of a surprise on the train! :-)

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  2. I really think that this is how e-mags have an advantage over print, but have yet to really use it to its advantage., Embedding videos, sounds, hot links etc really take it to the next level. Thats what would help me make the switch from print, which still has the advantage for me for portability, resilience and lack of connectivity reliance.

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    1. I bet I carry more magazines on my iPad than you do physical copies mate! :-) Not sure about resilience, I treat my iPad as I would any electrical device so not really an issue and you don't need to be connected to WiFi or 3/4G, you download at home then can read wherever, whenever you fancy. The good thing is if I fancy reading an old issue when on the train I have it with me and not sat in a pile at home. You might guess, I am converted. Pps. you really should go down this route, be ideal for next time your are on the briny blue! If you come to London I'll bring my iPad and show you.

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  3. I have a Kindle but I don't think my eyes would be up to a magazine on one (if it comes on Kindle that is!) as I struggle now reading a print magazine!

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