Apple NewsStand… Told Ya

Today at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, the company unveiled a new feature for their upcoming iOs 5 mobile operating system called NewsStand:

iOS 5 adds NewsStand, which is going to be huge for readers and publishers. Demoed at WWDC today, NewsStand looks just like the iBooks app but this is for Magazines and daily papers.

Working a bit like the Kindle magazine system, News Stand will update your Magazines when they are published without any fiddling around by users. Magazines can be read offline, and Apple has apparently signed up a boat load of magazines and newspapers.

Emphasis added by me in quote above. Back in February of 2010 I wrote this post envisioning what I thought needed to happen to make devices like the iPad become the next generation of magazine-content delivery, where I said in part:

I am talking about a universal format for magazines like the ePub format with true multimedia interaction, easy and intuitive touchscreen navigation, and invisible, while-you-are-sleeping push delivery of your morning paper or monthly issue of your favorite magazines waiting for you when pour your breakfast cereal. No need for a constant internet connection. No need to surf about. It’s all there waiting for you, and using the slim touchscreen pad is a joy.

I’d love to take credit for the idea, but it was an obvious one and many others said the same thing, calling for an iMag store where a reader can subscribe to their favorite publications or newspapers, and have it waiting for them whenever a new issue is released without the need to go “get it”. The virtual mailbox or doorstep. Makes perfect sense.

The price point and reading format are still question marks, but the delivery system is in place for full color magazine content at your digital fingertips.