by thenewgreen

It’s hard to overstate the excitement felt across the magazine industry following the unveiling of Apple’s iPad on January 27th, 2010. After nearly decade of hemorrhaging revenues, indiscriminate layoffs and non-stop cutbacks, hope had finally returned. In the eyes of publishers, tablets offered not just a chance to abandon PDFs and “online editions”, but an opportunity to re-establish the magazine experience and use their extensive production capabilities to outmaneuver leaner, web-focused competitors. After four and half years, however, this hope appears to have been more mirage than miracle.