The Digital edition of Magic Magazine is now available on iTunes. It is REALLY well done. Good use of the iPad's features for scrolling, viewing photos, and embedded videos. The navigation is really good. The price of the Jan 2011 issue is just $3.99, which is great. I'm not so sure I'm crazy about it being released to the general public, but I suppose only the dedicated will continue purchasing each issue and it will hopefully increase the number of people interested in the Art as they are exposed through this excellent material. Most of the other iPad/iPhone magic apps out there are of the "learn all the secrets the magician's don't want you to know" variety. One exception I noted recently is Joshua Jay has a 10 Card Trick app available. I should have jumped on it when it was $4.99 at initial release, because the price quickly moved to $6.99! (still a bargain). The only down-side is that this is currently only available to Apple users...

Doug A.

Sadly, it seems to be available only for the iPad -- not for the iPhone, not for the Android, and not even for the home computer. *sigh* There are still a few steps to go.

*jeep! and God Bless!
--Grandpa Chet

Do subscribers get the digital issue free?

I wanted to sing some praise of this
Magic Magazine app. I bought the January
issue and was very impressed.

I've read quite a
few magazines on the ipad and
many of them suffer from navigation
issues and I was quite surprised to
see that a lot of thought went into
this issue. Navigation was seamless and
intuitive.

The table of contents is easily accessible
from any page to allow you to quickly jump
to a section.

The embedded multimedia in the Talk About
Tricks section was wonderful. The option
to have each effect demonstrated is a welcome
addition.

The price point is great as My subscription
just ran out

All in all I am very impressed and hope that
they receive enough positive feedback
to continue to produce these digital editions.

Subscribers will have to get free access. If not, that's ridiculous. Genii gives everything away for subscribers including 70 years of archives and the current digital issue. So if Magic expects to compete, it better be free to subscribers

I also hope that it will be free to subscribers...if not, then is $3.99 for the digital version a better option than the printed one? I feel strongly both ways!

Magic Magazine must have struggled with this. The Apple App store somewhat limits what vendors can do, and I don't think there is any clear way that Magic Magazine can offer the magazines free to some users, but not to all. Since it is an "in app" purchase, perhaps there could be a way, but is isn't straightforward. I know some magazines offer a two-tiered rate: one for paper only, and a small addition if you also want to access the digital version.

Also, we should keep in mind that the iPad version of Magic Magazine is not just a simple saving of the document to the PDF format. Rather, lots of NEW design and work has to go into developing this advanced e-book with the embedded videos and so forth. Giving these editions away doesn't pay for all the additional work that had to be performed. Given that it is currently iPad only, I wonder if they'll make enough to keep it worth-while?

For archival purposes, I actually prefer a simple PDF that I can store and view on almost any platform. However, the way of interactive media is here...

I received an e-mail from Magic Magazine today that it is now available in the Apple AppStore. The e-mail message is as follows:

"Presenting MAGIC Magazine
on the Apple iPad!

The world's largest-selling print magazine for magicians is now available in the most reader-friendly digital format.

• Vertical and Horizontal Views
• Story to Story with a Swipe of Your Finger
• Footnotes in Pop-up Windows
• Additional Photos in Slideshows
• Embedded Videos"

I'll check this out later tonight on my wife's iPad.

I'm really impressed with this. Work beautifully on the iPad.

Living in the UK my paper copyntakes forever to arrive (still waiting on December actually!) so for me the iPad version is perfect.

Only wish is that they include this in the subscription fee.

The additional active links, audio and video features are also included in the iGenii issues and Genii still gives the iGenii issue away for free to subscribers. So additional features in the app version do not justify charging subscribers an additional fee IMO. As for how to make it available for free to some and not to others, I have a few apps that do that through login/password access. People without that info can pay a per use fee.

Hopefully someone from MAGIC will address these issues soon. I love my iGenii and I would love to read Magic on my ipad as well, but I'm not double paying.

Eric, that's good to know (about iGenii). I only just subscribed and haven't gotten my first issue yet,so haven't seen an iGenie issue yet. I'm not trying to be an apologist for Magic Magazine; just wanted to point out some considerations. I've seen some iMags out there that are charging almost $5 per issue, and yet you can subscribe to them for less than $20 per year...those are the ones I can't figure out!

You'll like I genii. It was a bit of a pain activating the account but I love it now. Active links are a great touch. I don't even want the hard copy anymore.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you're not crazy about it being released to the general public, MAGIC has been available to the general public since it's inception nearly 30 years ago. Did you ever have to flash an IBM card or something in order to purchase an issue?
Besides, you're not going to buy the magazine unless you have a genuine interest in magic. Anybody just trolling for secrets would be very disappointed I think.

Subscribe to Genii for $56 for one year and you get:
1. 12 printed monthly copies
2. 12 digital copies of the monthly issues FREE
3. Access to 74 years of back issues online FREE.

Subscribe to MAGIC for $54 for one year and you get:
12 paper copies ... and that's all.

If you want the digital copy, assuming you have an iPad, you'll pay an extra $4 a month. No iPad, you're out of luck.

So, one year of Genii (paper AND digital) = $56
One year of MAGIC (paper AND digital, if you have an iPad) = $102!!!

The math should make the choice for you! You're paying almost double for MAGIC and you don't even get any back issues.

All online features of Genii are free to all subscribers and viewable on any desktop, laptop, iPad, iPhone, Droid, tablet, and so on.

Richard makes a great point. I subscribe to both magazines, but I'm really put off by the way that Magic has handled this digital transition, especially since they originally made it seem like this would be an actual benefit to subscribers. Richard, on the other hand, has far exceeded my expectations as a subscriber, leading me to consider saving my money on Magic and investing it in a lifetime subscription to Genii.

Well, I've purchased many Magic and Genii magazines at Denny & Lee's and other magic shops, but I've never seen one at the local magazine rack. So while technically it is available to the public, I don't think many are that aware of it. As you said, though, It's probable no big deal...

I think it's a great idea, but needs some work. I don't have an iPad, but would love to be able to download the magazine as a PDF and put it on my iPod.

The benefit of this not just being a PDF is that it is interactive. You are able to scroll through photos as well as see videos playing. This 1st issue was done well and all who see it will be happy. Most would be disappoinpted with just a PDF compared this current layout. The way this issue is done has various ways to read it,unlike a PDF.Watch the Mac King video on this and you will see how slick it is. I only question the cost,otherwise it shouldl be successful for Magic Magazine

I currently use an iPad, an iTouch, a nook, a PC, a laptop and a HTC EVO for my various reading needs. The bulk of my reading is done with the nook. I love the format of Magic Magazine on my iPad and wouldn't want to try it on the phones, the iTouch or the nook. I would like to see it on the PC though.

My review is here: http://anthonyrmiller.com/?p=438

Excerpt follows:
If you subscribe to the print edition you will not receive the digital edition for free. I e-mailed Stan Allen about this pointing out that if I didn’t subscribe to the print edition I would save $6.12 over the course of a year by going digital only. Even if you don’t subscribe to the print edition it is cheaper to go the digital route than to buy a copy at your local magic store each month. Stan wrote back explaining that he hopes to see Adobe and Apple but together a subscription model he can use within the next few months (I expect no promise of an ETA as that is out of his control). Once this is in place you will be able to get a digital only subscription, print only subscription or the option to add the digital subscrption to your print edition subscritption for a nominal rate.

When wondering why there will be an additional charge for the digital edition keep in mind that there are also the production costs to consider. While you can do a magazine layout in PDF format it is not a bit for bit translation to the iPad. Additional modifications need to be made and additional applications are used to accomplish this. This means an additional expense to the magazine in the form of software licenses and man hours.

For now I will continue with my print subscription and buy the digital eidtion until I can get both for one package price.

I think this is giant leap forward for both Magic Magazine and the magic community. Going digital will mean a wider distribtuion for the magazine. A wider distribution for the magazine means more interest in magic. More interest in magic benefits all of us.

My only worry is advertisers wanting to embed video in their advertisements. Yes it would be nice to see video of the item for sale but I worry about how much space that will add to the download.

This stinks because I just renewed but wouldn't have had I known the digital version would come at a cost. I don't even want the hard copy.