Comments on Thought Gadgets: This Esquire download should take only 5 minutes

Fair point, Todd. And I LOVE the 1903 Thought Gadg...

2009-11-20T14:16:18.602-05:00

Fair point, Todd. And I LOVE the 1903 Thought Gadgets concept. May have to riff on that.

The distinction I tried to make is Esquire's move is not about AR working or not, or being the future or not, but rather tacking on the gimmick for secondary market PR. It's really no different that putting nudity on the cover; it's a shock to wake up readers and advertisers.

On augmented reality: Baby steps. I think AR will ...

2009-11-20T10:52:07.265-05:00

On augmented reality: Baby steps. I think AR will learn to walk soon, and maybe even run. Being a harsh on the AR baby because it's ugly and shits itself often, not cool. Blame the parents, not the kid.

Thought Gadgets blog
posted: Dec 17, 1903
title: Wright Flyer has no room for luggage, piss poor beverage service, and no in-fight movie.

On the future of the magazine: I'd suggest getting those Google Wave folks back in that room they reinvented email in and ask them to recycle the magazine. Sure at first it will suck, but once everyone gets an invite readership should spike.

Exactly. Michael Porter has a line near the begin...

2009-11-20T09:25:45.054-05:00

Exactly.

Michael Porter has a line near the beginning of "Competitive Advantage" where he talks about becoming "stuck in the middle." Being all things to all people and only moderately good at any of them is a bad place -- as you state, Brian.

It's a good lesson for all of us, outside of the print world. If you want to survive, you need to focus and stand out.

I don't think gimmicks will help Esquire get ad pages back, but the buzz around them is an interesting positioning strategy. Perhaps it's similar to a CP+B play -- it's not about the real message, it's about the secondary buzz.

I'm inclined to agree, Ben. Gimmicks won't...

2009-11-20T08:57:19.263-05:00

I'm inclined to agree, Ben. Gimmicks won't reinvent print. It's trite to say it, but high quality content that works well in that portable, very flexible medium will save it. I don't particularly worry for the future of The Economist and The New Yorker. They have outstanding products that, for the most part, are more enjoyable in the printed form. We'll see lots of gimmicks from publishers stuck in the middle, without must-have content or mass cheap distribution. Nowadays, it's better to be either The New Yorker or the free paper I read and threw away on the subway this morning. Getting stuck in the middle is a bad place.

Ben: Magazines obviously believe they have to try ...

2009-11-20T08:54:49.691-05:00

Ben:
Magazines obviously believe they have to try everything. I used to oversee all the creative for MPA, working with the board that ran it. I love magazines. Reading them, holding them, feeling the paper. But they're going to need more than gimmicks to own a digital experience. Don't know what the answers are, but I do know, from working with lots and lots of Gen Y writers on the http://nextgreatgeneration.com project that everything Chris Anderson says is true. Content will be sourced for free and sought for free. Magazines are going to have to try and find a new model, perhaps like Charles Sennott's GlobalPost that works in an entirely new way and gets rid of the crazy overhead. Gimmicks may get you through a year or two, but watch out. When the next great gen takes over, we may get a lot closer to paperless content.