Apple Buys Texture, a 'Netflix For Magazines' App (ft.com)

Apple said on Monday it will acquire Texture, a digital magazine app, as the iPhone maker looks to fill the gap left by Facebook's pullback from news distribution. From a report: The deal is Apple's latest move to build out its content and services platform, coming just three months after it announced plans to acquire Shazam, the music recognition app, for around $400m. First launched in 2010, Texture has been described as "Netflix for magazines," as its $10-per-month subscription service provides unlimited access to more than 220 publications including People, the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, National Geographic and Vogue. Further reading: Recode.

Comments

If Apple went with Netflix model, could be good

[SuperKendall]

An app by itself that just presents the world of magazines as we know it, is nice but not very useful. There are not that many magazines I actually want to read...

Now what would be lots more interesting, is Apple really going the Netflix model - in addition to providing access to normal magazines, what if Apple spent even just a billion dollars on producing really out there magazines? Something no traditional publisher would produce because of risk, but Apple could back and present through the app as a hook, the same way Netflix has original series that are a draw to use the service and thus also see other content.

Apple could even do things like short run magazines, that only had five-ten issues, or really interactive stuff since it's presented in an app. There are a lot of exciting possibilities there!