There is an app www.layar.com
that will work with any smart phone. If
you are reading INC Magazine (and perhaps others) and see a tiny logo in the
shape of a smart phone somewhere on the page (maybe the lower left corner) you
can pull out your phone and photograph that page (obviously using the layar “app” 's camera fumction) and it will show you videos and other bonus content on your
mobile device. For just this one page you are interested in.
Obviously this saves the publisher printing
costs and mailing costs, and adds video of the article that might be useful. I think of this as a step towards the day
when magazines will be thinner, but function as a Kiplinger's Newsletter. That is, they will give you enough
information to let you know if the story would really be of interest to you, or
not. If it is of interest, you could
bury yourself deeper by photographing the page using “layer”.
While I am still a big fan of
print media, I know many have time poverty and thus are suing smart phones on
public transportation to catch up with things they are interested in. I use Flipbook app extensively, as it seems
to be the best designed, shows me what I want to see by category or interest
(Apple news, photography news, many other categories). It also shows me this in the most cosmetic of
ways, with bright color pictures. I can
pass over the story, or drill down very easily.
Best of all, with a few finger touches, I can email the story to a
friend that might be interested. Or post
it on Facebook, or whatever. A form of information sharing (instantly) that was
never available in the past.
