The various magazine and newspaper apps for the iPad are so rich with clear, colorful content and REALLY easy navigation through the pages and articles, that many think they point the way to the future of publishing... 

One such afficionado is Chris Fralic, partner of First Round Capital, who wrote this for Business Insider:

I've now downloaded and spent some time with the new WIRED app on the iPad, and I think it points the way to the future of publishing. 

Will people pay $4.99 a month for it?  I'm not sure but some people will - they pay that much on newsstands.

But I do believe that even if people won't pay they WILL spend time in digital magazines like this and advertisers WILL pay to be there.

What's GREAT

Absolutely beautiful. The Ads are content – it’s iAds without Apple - with video as part of the expanded ads. Navigation is a great - left/right to new articles and down to read each article.

What's NOT YET

Not enough live links - they print the email address of the author but you can't click on it. Not enough sharing tools - no way to quickly share.

I liked the Sports Illustrated demo of their vision of the future of digital magazines   - but didn't and don't now believe it will be via a dedicated Time Inc. or Sports Illustrated device.  It'll be on an iPad or an Android or other multiple purpose table device.

I'm a huge Wall Street Journal reader and their iPad app is so good I canceled my print subscription.
I've read every single issue of WIRED since it came out - and I have a collection of every single print issue.   So while I might not cancel that subscription just yet, I'll be *reading* every issue of WIRED on the iPad going forward…