Feb 25, 2010

The Coolest Device Ever

If you’ve flown Southwest Airlines recently, you may have seen your fellow passengers engaging in one of the greatest interactive entertainment systems ever devised.

Unlike the Internet—which, by the way, has been around for an entire generation—this interactive system is light and flexible, usable during takeoff and landing, and battery free. Plus, its user interface is as intuitive as it gets. We call the interface “turning pages.”

I’m talking about Spirit Magazine, of course. Okay, I’m prejudiced, but think about it: If magazines were just invented today, people would be astonished by the exciting new technology. Instead of bookmarking a page, you can actually tear it out and stuff it in your pocket!

What’s more, putting a magazine on Southwest flights allows for the sort of spontaneous group activity that kids did in my neighborhood when we were growing up. Sure, these days you can have virtual get-togethers with multiplayer video games and sites like World of Warcraft and Second Life. But I’m talking actual here.

Want to participate in your own next-level magazine reality? Each month, in Spirit's newest department, “Folding Money,” we present a different origami project that uses paper currency. I have a vision of rows on every Southwest flight trying to out-fold each other and sending their best results to the Spirit editorial office, addressed to me. (Benjamins make especially beautiful origami, I’m told.) Meanwhile, I’m just happy to think that a magazine can break out of two dimensions, using its ultra-cool paper technology to deliver a thoroughly old-school experience.

Don’t get me wrong. As a total tech-gear hound, I’m a sucker for virtual reality. But when push comes to shove, I prefer my reality real. There’s just something wonderful about holding a physical magazine.
Besides—ever try to swat a fly with a laptop?

Posted By: Jay Heinrichs