Sports Illustrated Tablet demo is impressive

The mainstream media has struggled in recent years to make the transition from print to online media and often played the blame game, rather than innovating, but a video demonstration released last week by Sports Illustrated shows how powerful a magazine or newspaper could be in an eBook reader format when they take full advantage of the medium and use color and video to enhance the user experience.

(Watch the video)

This is exciting on a number of levels. It shows what mainstream media can do when it puts its resources to bear on the problem. They have created a device that appears to be extremely easy to use, includes wireless connectivity, understands the need to connect to social networks to share and offers the ability to add extra material that you couldn't have in a paper magazine such as additional photos, fantasy league management and games. The screen looks large, but the device appears light weight.

What I also like about this is the use of a free video to whet the appetite of potential readers (like me). SI clearly put some thought and care into the demo to highlight the strengths of the device and make it appear as a very attractive alternative to print. It remains to be seen how much such a device will cost, but if they are smart, it will be very low in exchange for a content purchasing agreement. Also note that the video creators were smart enough to show advertisers how they could enhance their ads in an online format offering video and other enhancements not possible in print.

By using social media as a means to publicize the new Tablet, Sports Illustrated is also showing it understands the dynamics of the new world of online marketing. I heard about this video through a tweet on Twitter. This all adds up to a very positive move forward. Whether it's effective or not depends to a large extent on implementation because hype can only get you so far. Now that you have our attention SI, show us what you can do.

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