Reactions to new Adobe digital viewer vary

June 2, 2010 — 7:34am ET | By Ron Miller

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Flash
Apple
Adobe
iPad
Wired

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) released a magazine digital viewer technology for use on the iPad (NASDAQ: AAPL) this week. This is the same viewer that Wired used in its iPad application released last week.

According to Adobe, this technology is a big leap forward, boasting what it called an "engaging, interactive" experience, but not everyone is convinced that it's such a big move. In a long review of the Wired app on the Interface Labs website, the writer likened it to nothing more than a 1990s CD-ROM experience in a new container. The writer also complains about the massive size of the application, which comes in at 500MB. This isn't trivial on a device that could have as little as 16 GB of hard drive to play with.

Harry McCracken is kinder in his assessment of the app in his PC World review, but he is careful to point out it is lacking some key features Wired showed of in its impressive YouTube demo video earlier this year. He also complains about clunky navigation and the fact that it appears to mimic the print experience a bit too closely. Although McCracken is impressed with the interactive features in the app, overall he thinks it has a way to go.

San Francisco Gate didn't like the price, which weighs in at $4.99 per issue, but overall they were impressed with the presentation.

Adobe has somehow managed to steer clear of the Flash programming that Apple clearly won't allow on its device, and it has delivered on the promise of the interactive magazine, but what's not clear is if this is truly the future of magazine publishing, or if HTML5 will lead the way. Whatever the technology, I believe we need to get past the print metaphor and into something entirely different and interactive. When we achieve that, we will have something special.

For more information:
- see the Adobe press release