- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
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I am a big car guy and have, for years, appreciated the greatness of British car mags - Car, EVO and Top Gear have always been far larger, better written, and included better photography and art direction than their US counterparts. Until recently they were only available at Border's or dedicated, high-quality newsstands, for $10-15 per issue. Being British, they couldn't sell subscriptions at any discount in the US. Due to the cost, I've always considered them an occasional treat rather than a staple.
All of these magazines now have their own iPad apps, which make them available for $4-5 per issue, so I have subscribed to both EVO and Top Gear. I actually upgraded from an iPad 1 to an iPad 3 specifically for these mags, since the Retina screen is so superior for reading.
Top Gear is basically a high-res scan of the magazine, which I greatly enjoy and consider an amply worthwhile expense.
EVO, though, is on a whole other level. Each issue is something close to 1 GB in size, because they include not only the full text of the magazine (smart, funny, well written British auto-journalism), but also a host of gorgeous pictures (all are zoomable and often an article will include several you can click between) nested high-quality videos, and even interactive, manually-navigable 3D images and animations. The interface is really clever and thoughtfully constructed - essentially you browse horizontally across articles, and vertically within each story. It saves your position in each article, so you can swap between them and immediately go back to where you were.
In aggregate I think this is the most impressive automotive journalistic enterprise I have ever seen in my 30 years or so of being a car buff. Other than National Geographic, it is also the most impressive iPad magazine I've seen.
A couple of caveats: The EVO app can be hinky and I initially found that it didn't honor my subscription. Also, I don't know how long they've had Retina-resolution magazines - the lack of that hugely hampers my enjoyment (Car magazine, e.g., doesn't seem to have Retina quality scans, and hence I have not subscribed).
In any case, if you love cars and have an iPad (particularly a Retina one), you owe it to yourself to subscribe.
All of these magazines now have their own iPad apps, which make them available for $4-5 per issue, so I have subscribed to both EVO and Top Gear. I actually upgraded from an iPad 1 to an iPad 3 specifically for these mags, since the Retina screen is so superior for reading.
Top Gear is basically a high-res scan of the magazine, which I greatly enjoy and consider an amply worthwhile expense.
EVO, though, is on a whole other level. Each issue is something close to 1 GB in size, because they include not only the full text of the magazine (smart, funny, well written British auto-journalism), but also a host of gorgeous pictures (all are zoomable and often an article will include several you can click between) nested high-quality videos, and even interactive, manually-navigable 3D images and animations. The interface is really clever and thoughtfully constructed - essentially you browse horizontally across articles, and vertically within each story. It saves your position in each article, so you can swap between them and immediately go back to where you were.
In aggregate I think this is the most impressive automotive journalistic enterprise I have ever seen in my 30 years or so of being a car buff. Other than National Geographic, it is also the most impressive iPad magazine I've seen.
A couple of caveats: The EVO app can be hinky and I initially found that it didn't honor my subscription. Also, I don't know how long they've had Retina-resolution magazines - the lack of that hugely hampers my enjoyment (Car magazine, e.g., doesn't seem to have Retina quality scans, and hence I have not subscribed).
In any case, if you love cars and have an iPad (particularly a Retina one), you owe it to yourself to subscribe.
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