iPad to save the magazine?

By Wang Yu

The iPad may be the savior of the magazine industry.

The industry has been reeling from an advertising crash that took a 12 percent bite out of revenue at publications across the board.

But with the App Store, where paper, ink and distribution no longer factor into the cost equation, publishers may have found new hope. From TIME magazine to GQ, dozens of big-name magazines are joining the iPad revolution in hopes of becoming early winners in the new business model.

But while it may be a great idea, theory rarely lines up with reality. iPads are still a toy reserved for the “well-to-do” minority. Beijing Today recently received an iPad and has been using it to test several publications over the past few weeks. This week, together with Chinese readers, our paper will try to figure out whether iPad can work for.