The best photography on the best portable viewing device

I have mentioned more than once that some of the best contemporary photography is to be found in Vanity Fair and Condé Nast, the publisher, has just come out with a truly splendid iPad app for the magazine.

Click the picture for more.

This begins to show some of the potential for the iPad as a magazine reading device – beautifully laid out, an easily accessed table of contents and smart behavior in both portrait and landscape modes.

Many of the advertisements – an essential part of the VF experience with some of the best photography – are not yet interactive, meaning when you see that diamond encrusted Cartier watch you cannot just touch it to place it in your shopping cart, but that will come.

The old saw about advertising has it that 50% of it is effective, the problem being which 50%? Well, if interactive advertising doesn’t save magazines, nothing will. The advertiser will, for the first time, know the click-through rate, the location of the reader and hence the demographic profile, so will be able to finally determine the return on his investment. Indeed, given that he will be prepared to pay a premium for access to this ‘shelf space’ this sort of thing will actually hasten the demise of newsprint, and not a moment too soon.

And, yes, I have to admit it, I was the body model for Cristiano Ronaldo on the cover.