Whatever next - movies in mags!

[Rum]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8258307.stm - link and vid

Rajesh Mirchandani takes a look at the latest battle in the media advertising war: video adverts inside magazines.

The latest edition of showbiz title Entertainment Weekly contains magazine ads that move. It is a similar principle to singing greetings card and was in fact developed by the same company.

But this 21st century version consists of a microchip holding digitized data that is connected to a speaker and a screen akin to some mobile phones. It is powered by a small rechargeable battery and mounted on cardboard, so is instantly distinguishable from a normal flimsy page.

And that means you can't really flick through the magazine, because the four-page insert that includes the video screen is relatively bulky. And when you do open up the relevant page, the actual advert takes several seconds to load and play.

Copies of the magazine containing the screens are being sent out to a few thousand subscribers in Los Angeles and New York.

[tattuchu]

Just like The Daily Prophet

[Thinking Aloud]

Why do I have a vision of landfill sites full of increasingly wasteful waste?

[Pappa]

Why do I have a vision of landfill sites full of increasingly wasteful waste?

+1

It's so gimmicky too. I can't see it being something that would appeal to me. I like books and magazines because the words and pictures stay still.

[drl2]

The gadget-geek part of my brain finds this incredibly cool. However, the part of my brain that finds the printed word to be the last vestige of any sort of depth of thought in a world of shallow glitz and glimmer is reeling at the horrors this technology could unleash.

"Please view this 2-minute add from Toyota to unlock this copy of Scientific American.

Bleh.

[AshtonBlack]

Not cool. If I want to watch something there are about a billion gadgets I could use.
Until we have flexible, paper thin screens the mixing of the media is not going to happen soon. This is a Pub. Stunt, I predict.

[Thinking Aloud]

Until we have flexible, paper thin screens the mixing of the media is not going to happen soon

... and when the paper is reusable - i.e. downloads the next newspaper / mag straight into it, and doesn't get thrown away. Hmm. Wouldn't that just be a web browser in your pocket?!