As Stan stated in his most recent column, the Magic Magazine app has been delivered to the iTunes store for those interested in reading it on their iPads. For more info, and a video of Mac King previewing the app, you can look here: http://bit.ly/fLjVQv

Follow the same link above for a quick chat with Stan Allen discussing the release of Magic for the iPad.

It looks good. My question is single hard issues are $6. I expected digital format to be more than just a $2 savings. Actually less if you factor in the yearly or 2 year subscription price than it's not much of a savings at all.

And you have to have an IPAD. Leaves me out. Good thing the paper issue is still available!!

It's coming to Android devices as well soon per the chat with Stan that I posted yesterday.

I just don't get it. I have to buy a $600 device that I can drop and ruin to read magazines and newspapers.

I hope they never stop printing magazines and such. When I want to look something up, I would rather have a stack of magazines to go through and enjoy all the articles rather than read it once and have to go to the trouble to find it on the internet some place.

Oh well, maybe 8 tracks will come back also.

Richard

Richard, you're absolutely right...you don't get it.
I don't really believe you mean what you say.
I doubt Stan expects anyone to buy an iPad just to read MAGIC, or just to read magazines and newspapers in general. It can do so much more than that.
That would be like saying "I have to buy a $600.00 device (a computer) just to read The Magic Café???". Probably not an investment most would make if that were all you could do with it.
The iPad is a fantastic device and great for many uses, especially if you don't already own a smartphone like an iPhone. Although I would hate to try and read a magazine on an iPhone, it's just way too small for my old eyes.

Magazines and newspapers on the internet and on mobile devices are definitely the future. If your allusion to 8-track tapes is to imply that this is just a passing fancy then you are very mistaken. Now I love printed books and magazines and papers too and and like you, I also hope they don't disappear completely in my lifetime. But there are many advantages to digital media. One being the ability to search back issues and archives. When one wants to look something up, it can be fun to look through a stack of magazines, but what if it's not that you WANT to look something up but NEED to? You can't possibly compare looking through stacks and stacks of magazines to simply doing a search for digital copies. Not to mention that 99 times out of 100 your digital search will give you more thorough and complete results.

I don't mean any offense to you by my comments, it's just that yours seemed pretty short-sighted and I can't really believe that you truly feel that way. It sounded like a knee-jerk response and that you just weren't in a very good mood when you wrote them. Actually it sounded like something my cranky ol' grandpa would say. You need to embrace the future. I mean, surely there were advantages to having written words carved into stone too, but we soon realized the advantages to ink on paper.

I just downloaded the MAGIC app and applaud Stan and his crew for the effort they put into the product and the great results it produced. I get the printed MAGIC every month but I may only get the iPad version from now on. It's not only cheaper but gives you a lot more. Plus, it is extremely easy to navigate, better than any other digital magazine I have read to date. I had expected them to just put out a digital "copy" of the printed mag (such as a .pdf) but they've gone way past that and already it is much better than I anticipated and will likely continue to evolve and improve as the months go on. My only complaint thus far is that none of the links appear to be live, but I am sure that will change over time. Great job Stan!!!

And now with the Genii archive included with the digital mag I am planning on subscribing to that one as well. I haven't been a Genii subscriber for probably 25 years.

The Genii resource is great, if you do not subscribe, wow, why not. And available for members are issues of the Magic Circular (Magic Circle Magazine) back to 2002, MUM Magazine archives and I am sure much more to come. There are now over 1.5 million books available for free Dick. Welcome to the future. I remember when Richard Robinson and I were disscussing the upcoming Internet. Most thought it was a fad. That was when we were on the Wildcat BBS mirrored in 4 countries. And he even told some, that someday people would pay to advertise here too. Most laughed, I didn't. The SAM was first in magic on the Internet, some of us had vision. Now I carry over 500 magic magazines, books, notes, and catalogs with me anywhere we travel. Lybrary.com has a great library to purchase and download. Publications can now have embeded videos, audio etc. It's called progress Dick. I honestly no longer think this is a fad.

Add to that AskAlexander.org and the amazing archives that the Conjuring Arts Research Center offers and we now have an amazing resource!

ABCs of Magic Sets
Abracadabra
Bat
Bibliographies
Billboard
Chap's Scrapbook
Clear the Decks
Conjurer's Monthly Magazine
Early Books
Erdnase
Genii
Gibeciere
Goldston Annual
Goldston's Magician
Goldston's Quarterly
Goldston's Quarterly (Old)
GRMT
Hugard's Magic Monthly
Ibidem
Il Prestigiatore Moderno
Jimmy Grippo
Jinx
Jon Racherbaumer Books
L'Escamoteur
L'Illusionista
L'Illusionniste
Linking Ring
Locke's Conjuror's
Magic Circular
Magic, Inc. Books
Magical Bulletin
Magical World
Mahatma
Many Faces of Magic
Miracle Factory Books
MK Ultra
MUM
New Conjurors' Magazine
Perennial Mystics
Public Books
Public Books NP
Selbit's Wizard
Seven Circles
Spanish Gaming Books
Sphinx
Stanyon's
Variety
World's Fair

Ok, Agreeded it is not a fad and the search engines are very nice and handy. But I still prefer to read the magazines and such (when possible) in old hard copy format.

Advertising has changed dramatically with the internet. Hard copies still have the advantage of lying by a chair and being picked up at a later date to be reread and have ads be reseen.

I do understand what you all are saying. But I still have my preferences.

Richard

Just wait until we get LED silks and feather flowers! Magic will be pure illusion.

Well, I guess I'll scrape the Goldwater sticker off my Edsel any day now. Don't you guys think I'm rushing it?

Bob
(Bubba Whodini)

I like printed magazines too so I can understand your preference. But you know, you can do all the things you stated with the iPad version as well. In fact people are more likely to re-read an issue on a device such as an iPad as you could conceivably carry many, many issues around with you at all times, or have many lying beside your chair. And hopefully Stan will add live links to the advertisers and I bet that will really boost their sales. I'm not saying you can't have a preference, just don't knock it until you've tried it. I predict the day will come when you laugh about it and remark that you can't believe they actually used to print and mail all these magazines, and then we had to store and organize them all.

Look at what Genii has made available to their subscribers. Even if you don't need that service today or tomorrow, chances are you will one day so you should be applauding the fact that it is available. I think MAGIC will follow suit too.

7.5 million + iPads have been sold and I can clearly see the paperless market is upon us.

I rarely go back to old issues, and the fact more is good, video, photo gallery, direct links, etc., makes online news very inviting. I read USA Today every morning as well as local news then check the weather map.

I predict the tablet, will wipeout notebooks and mini computers and will be the wave of the future.

It has been said 2010 was the year of the iPad, I expect 2011 to be the year of the tablet, (iPads and their clones)

I haven't made up my mind on the Magic Magazine because I don't want to double pay. I receive the subscription and upon renewal.

As for Genii online, I have down loaded every Osborne Illusion plan ever published in Genii. No it doesn't replace the Blackbook, but adds to it with far more illusions.

You are forewarned or informed the wave of the future, either get on board now or be behind the trend later. Eventually, you WILL be going the way of the computer. Few had it in the begininning, now many families have multiple computers. This will be the way of the TABLET!

If MAGIC magazine iPad version, offers something better than the home description, then it will be a winner.

I just finished reading the first iPad version of the Magic Magazine. It cost me $3.99 for this Magazine. I also get the home delivery copy.

I just asked for my home delivery copy subscription to be changed to this new format.

Why? Well it was almost Ken Scott's article, however, when I got to Joanie Spina's Article, and three videos discussing the art of magic presentation, I was completely sold on this new media format.

I own all three of Joanie Spina's videos and I personally liked her method of teaching what magicians should be doing to present their routines.

The MAGIC magazine article with just these videos was worth the $3.99 fee for the iPad subscription.

Did I get my 4 bucks worth, absolutely, just on this one article! Stan Allen is on the right track with this new direction. In addition to this article, for the card magicians out there, not only is the description of how to do the card trick great, the accompanying video clearly shows you how to perform it. The hard copy magazine cannot do this!

Above I said it is the wave of the future. Well, the future is now upon us.

This does not mean for you to go out and spend $700 for an iPad???...NO!, However, consider it as an option on your next computer upgrade. The iPad is worth it if you do not program, and mainly use it for office tools, email, and Internet surfing. I still need my PC to do web design and graphics. The iPad is not designed to do that. And I miss the ability to Skype my kids, (seeing the grandkids). Hopefully Version 2 will have a camera in it. If you are considering buying one, then by all means do so. (It should kill the Kindle book reader)

No one is trying to talk anyone into using something different when they don't have to. I too think that Stan did a great job with the app and love the fact that various kinds of multimedia can be embedded into an article to enhance the content exactly as described by Dennis above. Imagine reading an article about Dai Vernon and being able to watch a video of the performance being described, or being able to listen to him instead of simply reading a quote. The possibilities are endless!

I really like the new format. For me in the UK magic magazine usually costs £6. The digital version is going to be about Half the price. this though is not the main advantage. I love hard copy's as much as the next person and always prefer a book over a download or PDF but I can draw the line at magazines. I've just moved home and moving stacks of magazines was hard work!! I didn't want to get rid of them because of the information contained within, there not like newspapers but there also not as valuable (to me) as books. For me the new digital format for these magazines is great.
My only problem....I don't own an iPad. So please make this available for the iPhone as well.

People are like operating systems, you can choose to stay updated or choose to stay out of date. It's not right or wrong, it's a rightful choice.

You must have excellent eyesight. I can't imagine reading a magazine on an iPhone. Just too small. The iPad app for MAGIC does not currently allow you to zoom in on a page (I believe I am remembering that correctly but do not currently have my IPad in front of me to check.) But even if you could zoom on an iPhone it would be just too aggravating for me to enjoy the read on a device that small. I could if I had to but the iPad is just the right size for me. Oh well, I'm not here to sell iPads. I hope it is soon available on all digital devices, including desktop computers.

Fair point. I do have a good eyesight but agree that it would be a compromise viewing it on the iPhone. I wasn't aware that there was no zoom option. This would need to be a given if it was available on the iPhone.
My understanding was that it's available on the iPad an also through iTunes on your pc/mac. Is this right? If so I guess you can have it on your computer.
I'd love to have it on the iPhone though as long as it had zoom etc.

Tell me about it.

Decompetent