![\"\"](\"http:\/\/45.33.43.36\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/apple_devices-300x200.jpg\" "\\"apple_devices\\"")
There is a reason that phones, tablets, minis, laptops and desktop computers all exist. Each does a different thing. Sometimes only a slightly different thing, but a different thing nonetheless. And with a few exceptions, we use different products and brands as we perform different tasks on these different devices, depending on what we\u2019re trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re checking your Facebook feed, the difference between doing so on your iPhone, your iPad and your iPad mini isn\u2019t apparent. But if you\u2019re writing a message to a long-lost friend on Facebook, ideally you want to do so via your laptop or desktop, using a tactile keyboard, on the web. (And maybe you even want to write it first using a word-processing application.) If you\u2019re trying to research Twitter trends or simultaneously monitor thousands of tweets, the Twitter mobile app just won\u2019t cut it (not even Twitter\u2019s website will cut it sometimes\u2014just ask Tweetdeck). If you\u2019re gaming, Candy Crush is fine on a phone, but if you want to play a graphics-intensive game, you\u2019d be advised to do so using a heavy-duty desktop machine or a gaming console. Blog posts are easily tweaked on WordPress\u2019s app, but I wouldn\u2019t want to compose several thousand words by plunking them out on a virtual keyboard. I\u2019d never want to watch Gravity<\/em> on my phone.<\/p>\n On and on\u2014you get the point. Or, rather, I will get to the point. Magazines are ideally meant to be enjoyed on paper at leisure. The long articles, the beautiful photos, the envy-inducing ads, the feel of the pages in the hand, the tearing out of things to remember. With the exception of some news journalism, very few brands work on absolutely all devices. The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> and Buzzfeed, to name two, do an exceptional job cross-platform. But even then, those in-depth, well-reported 10,000-word profiles that the Times<\/em> does so well? I can\u2019t sit still long enough to read them on the web, let alone while squinting and scrolling on a phone. Buzzfeed’s GIF-sticles? Good luck getting them to load and animate as quickly as you want them to on a tablet.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written before<\/a> about how dismally magazine apps perform and tried to propose theories as to why that might be. But maybe it\u2019s simpler than all that. Maybe it\u2019s not more visibility in the app store or better PR or more intrusive update alerts or a consistent user experience. Maybe it\u2019s as simple as: Each task we perform in our lives has an appropriate medium.<\/p>\n Last month, while lamenting the lack of innovation surrounding magazine apps, I wrote:<\/p>\n