Khoi Vinh, former design director at NYTimes.com, has been a vocal critic of magazine publisher efforts on the iPad. One of his main criticisms: they’ve built far more complicated apps than necessary. Vinh writes on his blog Subtraction.com that maybe publishers aren’t so bad at least when compared to art galleries. He takes to task the new iPad app for one of his favorite museums, the Gagosian Gallery. For a diehard fan like Vinh, the app failed to deliver and left him befuddled.
[I[t’s all so intricate and fancy and unnecessarily complicated that it blows right past a great opportunity to engage people, like me, who want to consume art easily, effortlessly and on my own terms, without the hassle of deciphering an obstructive interface. The iPad is a fantastic platform for art in a way that no computing technology that came before it really was — I really feel strongly about this — but this app is not realizing the potential of the platform. That makes me sad.
More in Media
How creators are using generative AI in podcasts, videos and newsletters — and what advertisers think about it
Here’s a look at how some creators are leveraging generative AI to create video, audio and written content — and whether or not that’s a turn-off for advertisers.
Buzzfeed, News Corp and New York Times push back on tariff fears in earnings calls
Publishing execs pushed back on tariff and macroeconomic climate fears in Q1 2025 earnings calls, expressing confidence that their businesses would grow this year.
Digiday+ Research: Publishers’ subscription revenue is up this year, and they’ll focus on growing it even further
Subscriptions is one area where publishers are seeing more revenue, and, in turn, ramping up their plans to strengthen that part of their business in the coming months.