The iPad is good for reading magazines

So, I've already told you about my lack of enthusiasm for the iPad. However, I've discovered one good use for it:  reading People Magazine.   Yes, reading People Magazine.

First, I'm embarrassed to admit that I actually subscribe to People Magazine.  It's my one guilty pleasure each week.  It takes less than an hour to read it, and it's fun.   However, it's kind of a pain to read, as every other page is an ad, and there's not a lot of words on each page, so there's a lot of page flipping to do.  On the iPad, I touch the side of the page and BAM, page is flipped.

I also generally read People Magazine with my iPhone close by so I can sample songs I read about in music reviews on iTunes and send book samples that sound interesting to my Kindle.  With the iPad edition, links to song samples and Amazon books are embedded into the magazine, therefore saving me a step.  When reading a movie review, the movie trailer is embedded in the magazine.

Even better is the price:  free.  Since I already subscribe to the magazine, the digital edition is free.  Most magazines have not taken that approach, and it's not cost effective to switch to the digital version.  I would LOVE to get Vanity Fair on the iPad because the magazine is HUGE and every issue seems to weigh 2 lbs.  However, the iPad version of Vanity Fair  costs $4 an issue or $48/year.  A subscription to the paper version is $12, and you get a free bag   Subscribing to the paper version does not include the iPad version.

And as much as I love my Kindle, it's black and white, and while it's great for books, not so much for fashion magazines where I want to see things in color.