For a while now I’ve been subscribing to the online digital editions of The Guardian Newspaper and to be perfectly frank, the user experience was in needs of some extra development. Countless times have there been delays in publishing and my emails to customer services have went unanswered.
While editions were eventually posted, it was common to be still waiting well into the afternoon for the day’s paper. Sadly, if the service was ever going to work for me, the editions would have to be online before 9am otherwise I’d end up buying a physical paper copy for my daily lefty news fix.
Yesterday I received a very pleasing email from the Guardian announcing the re-launch of the Digital Editions on March 17th 2009. In what might just be an internet exclusive, please join me in taking a sneaky first look The Guardian’s new online interface in this three minute video:
(Sorry for the bad sound, wearing fancy noise canceling headphones I was blissfully unaware of of all the fan noise in he back ground. Both computers, the SKY+HD box and the washing machine all contributed to the bad audio!)
From the short overview that I’ve had with the new re-launched service I am really impressed. While the interface does not feel as smooth as that of eMetro’s, the added functionality like bookmarks, social media integration and printing options really make up for minor shortcomings.
In addition to the browser based edition, I’m pretty sure that Newspapers Direct (the Guardian’s electronic distribution partner) have a desktop application that would allow complete downloading of the paper for later reading without the need for an internet connection – fingers crossed that functionality will be available for The Guardian digital editions.
The service re-launches on Tuesday 17th March 2009. Annual or monthly subscription is required.
March 15th, 2009 at 3.43pm
That looks a lot better. How did you get it early, they email said Tue 17th March!