Pros and cons of print, app, and online edition.
In part one, this long-lived lesbian figured out how to get to Curve’s online site. In part two, after a little chat-screaming with Amazon customer support, I downloaded the Curve app for my Kindle. And now, newly savvy, or at least less confused, I’ll compare the three different versions: print, website, and app.
Print version
As virtually every long-lived lesbian knows, print is simple. You get it in the mail, you pick it up, you open it, you read, you tear out any pages you want, you pass the rest of the mag along to a lesbian friend.
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Pros
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Cons
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I’m already expert at using it.
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Uses paper (which uses trees, and contributes to landfill)
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Portability: I can easily carry it anywhere I go
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Costs money to print and mail, which adds to subscription cost
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Saved issues take up storage space
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If I lose an issue, it’s gone for good
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While I’m still getting used to seeing Curve on my Kindle, I can already see its pros and cons.
Kindle app
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Pros
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Cons
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I can adjust lighting and font to my preferred size
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I have to swipe my finger across the screen to turn the page – I’m still not used to that
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Portability – same as the print version
Fewer ads, which seem more condensed and which don’t interrupt the pages of an article
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The Kindle screen is small – it usually takes four screens to display one page-worth of material, and no images are really large
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Can carry thousands of magazines and books in one small package
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I find it awkward to skip around in the magazine – I can only go backwards or forwards, and have to see every page
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I can’t lose the software (or if I do, it’s easy to download it again)
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Takes a while to get used to this format
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Curve online edition
Finally there’s the Curve website, www.curvemag.com, which contains both the current issue and lots of extra material, such as blogs
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Pros
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Cons
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Since I have a large monitor, the pages are almost the same size as they are in the print edition
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I can’t take my desktop computer monitor to bed, or the beach, or anywhere else.
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Easy to flip through the pages or skip around the issue, come back to the table of contents, etc.
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Lots of extra material handy on the website
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Back issues are instantly available
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So if I calculate according to my summaries above, I like the online version of Curve best, since it has the highest pro:con ratio. I’m glad I’ve started using Curve online and I’m glad I downloaded the app, too, if only because now I’m less fearful about getting other apps. But you know what? I still like the print version best. Some things, like Long-lived Lesbians, are really good to have around.