Zinio for iPad is a Great way to read magazines but not perfect

There are a number of big magazines out there that have created their own iPad application such as Wired, Time, and Popular Science. At $5 per issue it is hard to justify buying them over the newsstand version. Wired magazine as a monthly is a pretty good deal because the digital version is less expensive than the paper version. Time magazine however is not a good deal at $5 per week when I can get an annual subscription for a couple dollars per issue.

So then there’s Zino. They are offering a full list of magazines. Their model is a subscription model. Their pricing is very aggressive. Take for example Popular Photography. You have your choice of $5.99 for one issue or an annual subscription for $12. Other titles on Zinio include National Geographic, Macworld and Popular Mechanics. Be sure to use Wi-Fi to download your magazines or you will use up your monthly bandwidth really fast.

When compared with the Wired Magazine application the Zinio applications come up short. The magazine navigation experience is very linear although you can go to a page browser. Each page is presented as a graphic. You cannot select text or click on hyperlinks. All the content is presented as it would appear in the magazine. The only small bit of interactivity is in the form of some hyperlinks that open a web page in the built-in web browser. Links for stories that are continued on another page use a link that takes you to the page browser rather than to that page.

Not all of the title available on the Zinio.com are available on the iPad. Notably you cannot get books. The iPad app does not let you download any Adult magazine either. There’s also an iPhone/iPod version but the title selection is not consistent. For best results use the “Shop” screen on the iPad to buy your magazines. It is hard to navigate and there is no search feature but you can be sure the title you pick will work on the iPad. Titles take up a lot of room so delete ones that you no longer want.

The free offerings on the iPad are really good. You can download featured sample articles from top magazines like National Geographic for free. When you get to the last page you are prompted to buy the magazine for just $5.99 each issue or 12 issues for $16.50.