'The New Yorker' Launches iPad Version, Latest Conde Nast iMagazine to Hit Enter

Conde Nast hit the send button Monday on its iPad version of The New Yorker, its latest publication to go iMagazine. The high-brow publication now joins other Conde Nast iPubs from Wired to Gourmet, which seek to benefit from a low-cost distribution model.

Other magazine publishers have been firing up their Apple (AAPL) iPad apps as well, from Popular Science to Sports Illustrated, which took the controversial step of abandoning Apple's guidelines to offer its magazine in only a horizontal format. But to set it apart from other iMagazines that are flying off the proverbial printing press, The New Yorker is seeking to exploit the capabilities of the technology.

In "A Note to Our Readers," The New Yorker editors had this to say about its iPad debut:

It has everything that is in the print edition and more: extra cartoons, extra photographs, videos, audio of writers and poets reading their work.

The extra cartoons and photographs, while nice, don't do much for leveraging the capabilities of the medium. However, videos and audio present added elements that a pulp version of the magazine could never offer. If the New Yorker can strike that balance of artfully embedding these bells and whistles when only relevant and enhancing the overall value of the article, it may help offset some of the negative feedback from iMagazine readers. Of course, lowering prices will also go a long way towards appeasing digital readers. The app will cost $4.99 per issue.

According to the company, it's iPad-formatted stories and content will be available on Mondays. An animated version featuring artist David Hockney's work will grace the inaugural cover of the digital New Yorker, which also includes an irreverent, occasionally bare-chested tutorial by actor Jason Schwartzman.

The video provides a stark contrast to the New Yorker's drawing of a refined gent in top hat stationed near the masthead. The move to the iPad, however, is not that large of a leap when it comes the New Yorker's digital publishing path, say its editors. The New Yorker, which has had an online version for nine years, has also made the transition to e-book readers like Amazon.com's (AMZN) Kindle and Barnes & Noble's (BKS) Nook, both of which are iPad rivals.