If you feel your iPad overheating, it’s not due to a mechanical problem, but rather the iPad-first release of Maxim’s annual “Hot 100” issue. Since Maxim is one of the hottest digital titles out there, the company decided to capitalize by releasing this much-anticipated (by pretty much any male within spitting distance) edition a week early via the iPad.
Despite succeeding in capitalizing on its mobile popularity, a reviewer from MinOnline said that the issue, available over the Maxim HD iPad app, lacks sufficient interactivity to make it truly buzzworthy. Given that the issue features “100 of the world’s most beautiful women,” there should be plenty of material — from interviews to additional pics to videos — from which to choose, especially given its visual-heavy format. It’s doubtful though, that additional time would have made a difference in the issue’s interactivity.
However, Maxim is clearly heating up where other mags and publications have had cooler reception – with 50,000 downloads each month across various mobile platforms, approximately 10,000 of which are downloaded to Apple devices. As some titles struggle to get their weekly/monthly content up-to-date on the web at the same time as the print version, Maxim is ahead of the curve and profiting from it.
Perhaps by next year’s issue, Maxim will have figured out a way to get Katy Perry or Beyonce to interact with you personally via your iPad or other mobile device, before the print issue hits the doorsteps of your less fortunate friends.
