When the iPad first launched, there were a handful of magazines that released digital versions on the iPad. Time magazine took a minimalist approach, while Popular Science was somewhat avant garde. Most of the others were poorly thought out, lesser versions of their print editions.

Time and PopSci should be commended for their effort and innovation, Especially since they had the guts to be one of the first publishers to release an iPad version of their magazine. However, as good as both were, they still fell short of the ideal iPad magazine experience that most people would want.

Shortly after the initial magazines came out, Wired released their version of an iPad magazine. Unlike all of the other iPad magazines, Wired got it (mostly) right the first time. The usability, while not perfect, was far and above their competition. They made it easy to navigate, read, and fun to use.

They recently came out with their second issue of their magazine for iPad, and did something very clever. Instead of releasing it as a new app, they updating the first magazine app, and made it so you could preview the new magazine, and then do an in-app purchase and download.

The magazine provides multiple ways to view the table of contents, and adjusts perfectly when you change from portrait to landscape, or vice-versa.

The article content is also easy to read, and is laid out well for both landscape and portrait mode.

The price for the iPad version, $3.99 per issue, is still a bit high. If they can continue to enhance their issues – which I believe is based on new, unreleased software from Adobe – and provide a more affordable subscription model, then I think they may have something very viable for digital magazine publishing.