Melissa Lynnette wrote:
This is gonna sound stupid, but could somebody explain the concept of online fashion mags to me.  How do they operate, etc?  Sorry for being an idiot.

Some people, especially busy people, like to have access to magazines without having to carry an actual printed copy around. Some carry a laptop with them on trips and such and by typing in a few words can have access to online magazines. No paper, no tree killed

Sita Mae Edwards wrote:
What I've never quite understood is what differentiates an online magazine from just...a website.  Is it something to do with layout?  Content?  Or is it just a matter of calling your website an online magazine and voila...you are one?

That is a very good question... which I don't know the answer to.  So bumping it up for good measure.   

Speaking of magazines, anyone see the latest issue of Rolling Stone with the 3D cover?

VikyL wrote:
Not magazines, but as I mentioned in the other thread, there are hundreds of legitimate online catalogues, either for specific designers, or licensed vendors that shoot their own content not available in print.

So, there can be online catalogues but not online magazines? hmm.

Patrick Walberg wrote:
That is a very good question... which I don't know the answer to.  So bumping it up for good measure.   

Speaking of magazines, anyone see the latest issue of Rolling Stone with the 3D cover?

There are a few differences between on-line mags and print mags - the issue of: Is it a website or not?  may not matter at all ... just some quick thoughts:

Advantages of on-line publication:

Full colour even for text - not always available in printed editions and can be too costly to actually do throughout.

All full colour images and graphics. Again there are certain limitations to this in paper printing.

Colour paper - the page background. Not often seen in paper printed materials which almost always start with white paper in the printing plant. If there is a BG colour on a printed paper page it needs to be actually printed there.

Non standard text article length. Where in print an article may be limited as to the minimum and maximum size, usually due to paper size and layout constraints, the limitations do not apply on-line.

Whole articles can be printed together [or the parts linked to be viewed together] so there is not an orphan part of it buried somewhere at the back of the magazine [as in print]

Immediacy - BOTH in compositing the mag and in making changes - where these for print must be set in advance before printing. Print publications, or parts of them, are often laid out weeks in advance and once done are virtually set in stone.

Correctability - once in print it is always in print - but on the web published content can be changed, or updated, even after the publication is produced and initially distributed.

Retractability - has legal ramifications for defamation and libel. On the web a questionable statement can be redacted, withdrawn and removed. Once in print it is legally always in print. In some cases additional third party distribution also gives rise to additional legal action.

linkability - direct links to other related materials or archives of past related materials or even outside sources of additional information.

New technology advantages - can add audio and motion - that are just not possible with print.

Micro-billing - it is possible to charge for only part of the web content and give some of it away free - that can not be done with an all-or-nothing print publication

Substantially lower distribution costs over paper.

No unsold returns - often costly for print publishers as they pay handling charges for that to the magazine distributors in addition to the printing cost overheads.

No wasted or spoiled copies - also, often a significant overhead cost for print publications.

There are other minor and somewhat less important differences as well.

What print publications still have going for them is durability and persistence in the environment. Archiving physical copies is better achieved with print and if properly stored has a proven track record in terms of hundreds of years. The durability of Internet archiving [on e.g. disks] is still an unknown.

Anybody else???

Studio36

J. Stakeman wrote:
This thread is like a month old, and then suddenly comes back to life.

While there are a lot of ways to argue about what makes a website an online magazine...

I think the most generic answer is probably ad supported, edited content.  Although not all of them have ads like 180 Mag http://180degreeimaging.com/180mag/

But as the other thread argues the importance of online "publication" are there any other mags that people think are worthwhile?

That was quite helpful.  Thank you!