Zinio Delivers Free Print Mags Digitally

by Eric March on May 26, 2008 at 8:04 pm

Some few of you may be familiar with Zinio, a subscription-based magazine service that delivers hundreds of print magazines worldwide in digital format to your desktop for less than the cost of their paper counterparts.

What you may not be aware of is that they are currently offering a selection of 20 magazines for free to iPhone and iPod Touch users. The initiative actually launched last November, but recently, the success of the project has spurred them to rotate another 20 titles, including Readers Digest, Elle, Macworld (Spain and UK issues), PC Magazine, Popular Photography, U.S. News & World Report, and, um … a couple of decidedly more adult titles. (*cough* Heffner *cough*)

The magazines are complete, cover to cover, and scanned at a high enough resolution that you won’t miss any details. The iPhone browser actually works quite well, though it is a tad sluggish in the typical manner of web apps, and the pages are quick to load. You have to use the pinch to zoom though; double-tapping doesn’t work here.

There’s no telling if this little experiment is going to remain indefinitely — ultimately, of course, they want to attract you to subscribe to a magazine or three, and this free publicity is just a sampler to introduce you to the service and check out the quality of the merchandise before they make you whip out the plastic. Still, while it lasts you’ll get a decent selection of mags to thumb through completely gratis, no strings attached — and free is a price most people don’t mind shelling out for. Just get yourself a coffee, sit back, and point Mobile Safari at http://www.zinio.com/iphone/ to access it.

(Source: IntoMobile)

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