Texterity- better than Zinio?

Every time I find something new and cool and I go to blog about it thinking to myself I’ll beat Marc Orchant to the punch I fall short.  I think Marc has a neural pipe to the Web and never sleeps.    Texterity is one thing I’ve been playing around with for a couple of days and I must say it is really sweet.  Texterity provides a convenient way to read digital publications on your PC and it works particularly well on a Tablet PC.  What I like about Texterity is you are not limited to magazines as you are with Zinio, you can also get major newspapers like the New York Times.  There is no program to download, the entire viewing is done in your browser window which is pretty cool as long as you have a high speed Internet connection.  Marc intends to blog more about it next week after he plays with it a bit and I will be sure to check it out.

Comments

[Paul]

I poked a little at Texterity after receiving an email from Popular Science informing me that,starting next month, my subscription would be delivered by that vehicle rather than Zinio. I found Texterity to be down-functioned and minimal when compared to Zinio. For instance, it does not provide for background delivery for future reading, does not remember one's display preferences from one use to the next or one publication to the next, and is slow changing pages. I've had an email exchange with the Texterity people who say those feature are "are in the works". To summarize, an unimpressive first effort. I informed the Popular Science folk that if they are going to insist on using Texterity in its present form then I shall vote with my Dollars and not review my subscription.

[bob]

I mainly use Zinos for catching up on my reading during flights which means that offline is _very_ important to me. The ability to read (and tag interesting stuff) without carrying a couple pounds of paper in my already full backpack is the only way I manage to keep current with some of the magazines.

I've tried reading a couple magazines online and the latency made for some painful experiences.

[P Rezob]

Let me repeat myself: given the CHOICE to download, I would rather: (a) download, or (b) look online, or (c) have the choice to do either. I pick (c).

I admit, if you have already has
downloaded and installed the ZINIO (aka ZIDIOT) reader, perhaps it's a good thing. But, I found this piece of
fatware to be hopeless, and had to re-install the entire thing to "try"
the latest version. I finally de-installed the mess. Maybe others have
had luck, but I *like very much* the idea of a browser solution. And
Texterity seems clean and fast. I'm getting MAKE magazine with Texterity
and it's awesome. As far as downloading in the background, I don't see
the big deal in pressing a "download" button and having the file being
sent. You can continue to use the online edition. The KEY here is
choice. ZIDIOT gives you NONE. Install, register, get spammed by them, and
yes, finally, I can read the mag. Texterity - read it anywhere I want
from my browser, and I have the download choice. BTW, the download version works in a BROWSER only! (Either IE or Safari, as far as I can tell).

[Paul]

A browser solution, providing it supports local storage for offline reading and remembers preferences from use to use, is fine. This release of Texterity provides neither.

[Kutemba]

I subscribed to Popular Science with Texterity months ago and have never been able to download even one magazine. Now I can't ever find the website where I can sign in to try to find the magazine. I don't think much of the system. I have used Zinio for over a year and it is great. With Texterity I haven't even been able to get a refund.

[John Kerr]

Texterity is a great platform for users and publishers alike. simple , easy to naigate and honestly compared to Zinio its superior for those who choose not to download software that bogs most machines. The so called enhanced functionality of Zinio is well over rated. Other platforms like LinkPath and olive are good too but comapring Texterity to Zinio in my books is a non starter Zinio is a distant second when it works.

[zinoku]

I personally like zinoku more, it has everything zinio has, and its FREE ;)..
check it out at www.zinoku.com.cn