I’ve seen a few posts pointing to a new digital magazine calledHome Computer. Being the huge fan ofdigital magazines that I am, this sounded like something to check out. Unlike Zinio Reader (an excellent tool which Ihighly recommend), this magazine is delivered in Adobe Acrobat PDF so the only thing you need to read it is the freeAcrobat Reader.

I grew up inthe publishing business and I’ve watched over time as formerly phone book-sized publication have dwindled down to merebooklets as more and more content moves online. Home Computer is the first publication I’m aware of that has beendesigned from the ground up as an online magazine (no print edition).

The layout is excellent, formatted in landscape mode for your monitor, and makes great use of the PDF format withembedded animations, interactive forms, and links. Both broadband and narrowband versions are available as areBitTorrent versions for those who use that file sharing technology. Reading, especially for those using a Tablet PC, isquite enjoyable and the content is first rate. The first two issues are available now and, if you subscribe to theire-mail newsletter or RSS feed, you can also get special bonus tutorials (including an excellent guide to using Tweak UI- Microsoft’s interface tweaking tool).

Their Reader Policy is pretty clear:

We don’t ask for anything from you. You can download the magazine by clicking on the link and that’s it. We don’ttrack your movements with cookies even. We don’t want your name, your address, your credit card details; we don’t askyou to register, we don’t ask for your email address (though you can supply it if you want us to tell you when the nextissue is published).

Consider how much you’ve probably spent on magazines over the years. Then consider the implications of this tectonicshift in publishing models.

Related...

http://office.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000303025341/