I am up for renewal but I can't seem to hit the renew button due to the fact that I can get the digital version for my iPad. I love having a hard copy of MAGIC, but I can't see paying twice for a hard copy & a digital copy. Are other subscribers out there feeling the same and could this lead to the end of the hard copy version?

A long time subscriber, well over 10 years, I did not renew last time around either. Now I get the digital versions and only the ones I want.

Yes I switched to digital as well.

The bottom line for me was the improved content in the online version. The embedded videos are incredible. Hopefully, Stan will continue to invest in making further improvements. A few issues ago he actually had the magician who developed the tricks in Joshua Jay's column perform and teach the effects; it was fantastic! You will not get that in the print version.

Makes no sense to me why Stan Allen is doing this. If it is the case that I have to choose between the two, then I will stay with Genii since I get BOTH plus the Genii archive. I do love Magic magazine but not enough to have to choose one medium over the other.

I also find it ironic that some magicians loathe e-books and digital magazine compilations but prefer the very thing they loathe.

C'est la vie.

Vlad

The iPad version is wonderful. And you can order only the issues you want, including back issues. As whiteoakcanyon pointed out, the embedded videos offer you something you cannot get in the printed version--and they bring magazines to a whole new level. You'll also enjoy the fact that you don't have piles of magazines collecting in a corner somewhere.

As well as the fact that you WILL have all the past copies with you all the time on your iPad.

Just got an Ipad this month and got my first digital copy. I'll be sticking with this - I love it. I also got a few other magazines I regularly read and they are not as good. I hate when they do not have an "Active contents " section. Meaning that you cant just click on the article in the contents and be taken to that page like you can in Magic - you have to scroll to that article. Magic does a great job! I wish Genii was the same way with being able to order single issues

I want to be sure I am not misreading the above.
Question: When you subscribe to the magazine do you get access to previous issues like you do with Genii?
And are the previous issues on CD?
Thank you.

Spartacus, No and no

I bought my first copy today on the iPad. I love the format! Very enjoyable read!

For one price, $56, Genii gives you the printed copy, the digital copy (with embedded videos and audios), and all 75 years of back issues available online in a searchable database. Genii is also the oldest and now the largest independent magic magazine. We have also given away many free DVDs with our paper copies (with more to come this year!), and those videos are available on the digital edition as well.

One thing it's important to note: you can view the digital versions of the current issues of Genii (going back to January 2011) on ANY platform: any computer, desktop, laptop, iPad, and iPhone. While the audio and video don't function because we don't have apps for Kindle Fire, Nook, and Android tablets (such as the ZYboard): you can most certainly read the digital edition of the magazine on these devices and it looks great.

So, if you want the paper and digital versions of MAGIC magazine, not only do you have to pay almost double the price, you're also screwed if you don't have an iPad.

I think Genii gives a lot more to ALL of its customers every month. But, it's understandable I feel that way.

I have to agree with Richard...Genii is by far the better deal. MAGIC is currently making the same mistake that all the other publishers made when they first put out an iPad edition of their magazines...charging too high a price per single issue and not offering a free digital subscription to print subscribers.

The only change I would like to see Genii make is to allow access to paid digital issues after a subscription ends, but to be perfectly honest I'm not sure if other publishers offer this or not.

Magic digital is certainly worth the cost for those who can't wait for regular mail, it's fast, convenient and the format for an IPad is fantastic

I've been a Magic subscriber since day one, and recently switched to an iPad only subscription. I love it. It's great to have all issues with me, and I love that it downloads all content so I don't need wi-fi at a later time to watch the videos, etc.

I also get Genii, and subscribed for 3 years and got the great Vernon book for $15.

I like them both!

I really think Magic Magazine should show the love to Android users. Not fair Ijunkies get all the fun!

I spend most of my time in front of a computer for work, and I enjoy having a paper magazine in my hand. I have read a few magazines online, and even if convenient, I am still sticking to paper. However, I do love having a digital collection of all the magazines I've read with a good search index. I don't want to stock anymore years of past paper edition, but I want to be able to quickly get back to a past article when needed. I have also often extracted a few pages of a .pdf file to store an article in specific research folders that I keep on some topics.

I'm not against apps made for magazine, but it's not multi platform yet (OS specific), and I'm wondering about long term access (change of standard, proprietary format, etc...). I feel more confident in a trusted .pdf format downloaded to my NAS that I will still be able to read in twenty years. I'm not so sure about the perenity of hosted on demand proprietary systems.

I would like to see for paper subscribers, a free download option of past editions they received (maybe with a few months delay to give digital only subscribers a premium).

Penguin Magic is now offering digital issues of Genii on an issue by issue basis. Pay, download a pdf that you will be able to read forever, and you get all the video and audio, too.

Richard’s latest offering (the ability to buy individual issues which you can view forever) illustrates the discrepancy that many previously overlooked when comparing the digital versions of Genii and MAGIC Magazine (and trying to determine which one was the “better deal”). With Genii, you had access to the digital version of the magazine (as well as PDF’s of the older issues), but only so long as you were willing to pay that subscription every year into eternity. The minute you stopped subscribing, you lost access to those digital versions in your library. Now he is saying that you can buy those issues individually (even though you may have paid for them previously in your subscription). So it was never really a “better deal” than MAGIC, it was just a different deal. I applaud the evolution, though, as I like to pick and choose which digital magic magazines I want to buy, without being forced to pay an annual subscription forever.

By the way, I should note that I prefer the content of Genii to MAGIC Magazine (I'm a subscriber to Genii, and only buy the digital versions of MAGIC that interest me). But I think the digital version of MAGIC is far superior. Genii's digital version is just a glorified PDF, with some video attachments. MAGIC Magazine's digital version is a true app, similar to what the Wall Street Journal has done with their iPad version of the newspaper. The text, photographs and videos are all seamlessly integrated into a new format and user experience, and there's really no comparison between the two. I only mention this to apply gentle pressure to Genii to try to keep up.