Mobilizing the Magazine

Long before there was a mobile Internet or wireless data, there was a simpler, far more humble way of getting information on the go: the magazine. Whether slipped into a briefcase, stuffed into a backpack or just rolled up in your fist, magazines are sleek and compact, a travel-sized trove of facts, figures, stories and photos with neither the physical unwieldiness, the blink-and-you’ve-missed-it (ir)relevance nor the inky messiness of its sibling, the daily newspaper.

It’s the original mobile information device: After the captain’s asked you to turn off all electronic devices, the magazine becomes your refuge during that long, arduous cross-country flight. Same goes for that interminable wait in the dentist’s reception area, or even that short train ride to and from work. It’s the time-killer that mobile applications only dream of becoming. And for all the technological evolutions and revolutions that have enhanced modern society, the magazine has stayed pretty much the same.

Of course, nowadays everyone has a Web site, and magazines are no different. Which begs a simple question: What purpose do they serve? Isn’t the print edition enough?

Allow me to retort.

One year ago, we redesigned the monthly print edition of Wireless Review, maintaining its core focus on the latest innovations in mobile technology while expanding the magazine’s horizons to also spotlight the executives, engineers, marketing gurus and even the end users spearheading the wireless revolution. Now it’s February 2003, and we’re relaunching the Wireless Review Web site with the same philosophies and goals in mind.

But here’s the thing: It’s not just an electronic version of the magazine. You don’t need that, and we don’t want that, either. Instead, the Wireless Review Web site--as well as its accompanying weekly e-newsletter, On the Air--will strive to complement and enhance the glossy magazine you receive in the mail every month. The Web is the premier vehicle for investigating, reporting and analyzing breaking wireless news as it happens. It’s the spot for quick Q&A sessions with the wireless industry types making that news. It’s a showcase for technological breakthroughs so new there’s not even an acronym to describe what they do. It’s a soapbox to sing the praises of the industry’s positive trends--and critique negative developments as well. And it’s a place to discuss the latest network infrastructure technology, software applications, regulatory issues, devices, advertising campaigns, you name it--whatever’s hot in wireless at the moment.

That’s the critical distinction between Wireless Review’s electronic edition and its print counterpart: The former documents what’s going on right now; the latter documents what’s coming just around the corner. You can’t have a future without a present. Here’s to proving you can’t have a great magazine without a great Web site, either.

E-mail Jason Ankeny at jankeny@primediabusiness.com.