Ah, the tablet. Once seen as a failed attempt to be futuristic, and then reinvigorated by the iPad, now becoming more and more common every day. What’s interesting about the tablet is that it holds a lot of promise. We’ve all seen cool stuff like in the movies Tron and Minority Report, but outside of Angry Birds, and some cool little features like the pinch and zoom, has the tablet fully been realized?

Digital magazines don’t think so. And because you can be so creative with digital content, does that necessarily make it better? In a survey conducted by GfK MRI, and reported by Erik Sass of Online Media Daily:

Overall, 72% of tablet owners who read digital magazines on their devices in the last 30 days said they would prefer all digital magazines to be formatted in the same way, according to the iPanel results. 70% of tablet owners who read digital magazines on their devices said they would like to be able to buy items simply by clicking on ads in the digital magazines. Almost as many — 67% — said they would like to see ads in digital magazines that are personalized to address their interests.

The GfK MRI iPanel survey uncovered a fair amount of ambiguity when it came to general sentiment towards digital magazines. On one hand, there’s a definite preference for digital magazines over print among tablet and e-reader owners, with 67% saying they’d rather read the electronic version over the paper version. Somewhat paradoxically, however, 65% said they consider reading paper magazines to be a "more satisfying" experience — perhaps reflecting a perception that digital magazines are somehow still a "work in progress."

I would want all magazines to be formatted in the same way too. And naturally, you should be able to click on an ad and insta-purchase something. I doubt that I would do this, as the ad gives me an idea, and then I price compare. For example, when looking at a digital fitness magazine for example, and I see an ad for a protein powder, I’m more likely to click the ad, see what it’s all about and then go to my go to site that I normally go to and see if I can get that protein there. The ad sparks the interest, or reminds me that it’s time to order some more. If the digital magazine was intuitive and recognized my buying habits and preferences (super-cookies anyone?) then the ads would be catered to me and then I’m more likely to purchase something by clicking on an ad. I also agree that reading a print version of a magazine is a more satisfying experience, as digital is limited to the size of the screen and formatting issues. The article goes on to say that a large percentage also thought that video in the digital magazine was gimmicky. I feel that as hardware becomes more and more efficient and tablets can pack more and more power into their frame, video and the like will improve. Remember Harry Potter? The newspapers or the wanted posters? That’s how I envision digital magazines in the future. Let’s just hope I’m right…

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