As regular readers of Maciverse may have noticed by now, I’m obsessed by the iPad’s potential to revolutionize our reading experience. Though I don’t think that an electronic device can replicate or truly replace the experience of opening up a musty book plucked carefully from the shelves of a used bookstore, I’m willing to toss out the magazine reading experience without much thought.
We’ve already seen how Popular Science and Elle opened up the possibilities for reading magazines on the iPad. Those were certainly inspiring starts—but SPIN Play is the face of the future. Rather than just uploading the magazine pages onto an App or adding a few, unimpressive bells and whistles, Spin have elected to reinvent its entire reading experience for our reading pleasure.
Spin Play is a free App, but paying a pittance will open up the world of features greatly. After your initial download, you have access to the March issue of Spin. This was a well-planned move on Spin’s part—one that no other magazine App has attempted. Banking on both the appeal of their product and the reluctance of consumers to pay for information, Spin opted to showcase what their App offers and then allow users to decide whether they wanted to make a longer commitment. Issues cost a mere $1.99, and a yearly subscription is the jaw-dropping bargain of $7.99.
Now for the glories of the App itself. After SPIN Play opens, you can select which magazine edition you want to explore. Upon tapping on that magazine, you see all of its features presented horizontally. You can scroll across to explore the issue’s offerings before diving into an individual article. This is like flipping through a magazine but always landing on an article rather than a bizarre ad for muscle enhancements or ironic t-shirts.
Where Spin Play distances itself from the competition is how each article comes equipped with music and/or videos to accompany it. Every movie review has its trailer, and every article about an up-and-coming band allows you to sample them to see if they’re the real deal. Every issue comes with 30 streaming videos and 60 streaming songs for your joy and discovery. Everything has been selected by the editors of Spin—so you no longer have to rummage through the rubbish of internet music. Spin Play does the work for you.
Even if you elect to only download the free App, Spin Play provides you with daily music updates that will keep you in the loop about new releases and tour dates.
The user interface is easy to master and helps elevate the experience of reading a magazine onto a new plane. With its music and video options, Spin Play provides plenty to return to. Spin, facing the competition and seeming dominance of music bloggers, has made a brave but wise choice. Those who explore this App will not be disappointed, and it will certainly make them eager for the future of journalism on the iPad. Just when it seemed that newspapers and magazines might have to fold due to the changing world, the iPad has emerged as a vehicle of redemption.
Spin Play is leading an exciting field, and you’re sure to read more about that here.
Download Spin Play for FREE in the App Store.
