Slate Magazine in the digital format.

If you take a look back at what happened to the record industry the last decade, it would be hard to miss similarities with the publishing industry. Hard copy magazine sales (and subscriptions in particular) have dramatically declined and continue to do so. Some publishers see the iPad and digital magazines as the death of their product, but the really visionary leaders see them as their holy grail — think Wired. Think reinvention.

Digital magazines have embraced the transformation and are redefining the reading experience. This is based partly on the new and emerging technology and partly on the evolving profile of their reader. Digital magazine design is a perfect combination of print + web. It has all the beauty of traditional magazines and the immediacy and convenience of web content.

It’s clear that digital magazines are here to stay, the question is how long will hard copy magazines hang on.