Zinio puts hundreds of digital magazines a click away

SAN FRANCISCO -- The future of magazine publishing increasingly is appearing on a digital display — not just a newsstand.

Advancements in software and hardware are making it easier for a growing faction of consumers — including coveted younger readers called screen-agers — to read their favorite publications on the Internet or download and read them later offline.

"It's not Jetsons. It's real," says Richard Maggiotto, CEO of Zinio, one of a dozen or so companies that specialize in creating digital editions of magazines and newspapers.

"We aren't trying to erode print systems, but give publishers another way to redistribute their content," he says. "It gives readers what they want in media formats they are increasingly using, such as iPhone, iPod, PCs."

The San Francisco-based Zinio and similar ventures could be a lifeline for the magazine and newspaper industries as readers — especially younger ones — migrate to the Internet and electronic devices to get their news.

Potentially, more may follow, with developments in "e-paper" technology. E Ink and Plastic Logic are developing flexible screen technology that will let consumers read content in color while on the move, says David Renard, senior analyst at market researcher MediaIdeas. By 2020, e-paper will be a $25 billion industry, he says. Amazon.com and Sony are among those that have created wireless reading devices. Amazon's Kindle lets people buy books and access other content over Sprint's wireless broadband network.

Digital versions of magazines "are a far superior reading experience in that the website is endless. There are billions of pages, where you can drift on tangents stemming from each story," says Bo Sacks, publisher of consultant Precision Media Group.

The growing popularity of virtual magazines could be a panacea for foreign publishers — many of whom want to crack the U.S. market but are hindered by distance and mailing costs — and it extends the reach of American publications to rural areas, where many titles are hard to find.