New Yorker on iPad

What is the fastest way to create marital discord? Have only one iPad.

My wife and I have two young children, and as a result at night we’re often stuck at home. And since we’re stuck we’d find ourselves wanting to surf the web on our favorite little computing device. We typically get along great (my wife and I), but who got access to the iPad created fireworks. Our solution? We bought a second one, an iPad 2. Yes, we helped Apple have a blowout quarter, and I just bought a new iPhone 4S, so I helped with the current quarter as well.

The new iPad 2 coincided with the re-upping of my New Yorker subscription. It had lapsed for a few months. For a couple of weeks now, I’ve gotten the magazine on my iPad, and I’m trying to decide if I like this format. I know, this is not a new topic. People have been writing about hardcopy vs. online for years. I’m a news junky, and I get nearly all my news online. I used to love buying the newspaper, but now can’t imagine doing so. But maybe a magazine is different? Here is a very quick list of my pro’s and cons.

Pro’s

• The online magazine arrives sooner (Monday, instead of Thursday for the hard copy).
• No recycling.
• Last night I read the Fiction story, and they offered an audio version recorded by the author. That was cool. (The problem is if you move the text by mistake – which I did – you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the recording. So halfway through I just switched to reading).
• Everything is archived! I have easy access to past issues of the magazine.

Con’s

• I suspect that all the reading I do online is hurting my eyes. Or maybe it’s just because I’m getting old.
• When I download an issue, does it eat up memory on the iPad? I’m not sure. Maybe it lives in the cloud.
• There is something nice about holding the actual magazine. And it’s a lot easier to share with someone else.

Okay, so the list isn’t very comprehensive, but it reflects where I’m at now. More research required. If you’re interested in getting the New Yorker app for your iPad, this video by Jason Schwartzman does a good job of explaining the features. And it’s very funny!

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