Zaipul.Com

Last weekend I stumbled upon a website call Issuu.com. I found it to be very-very interesting. Issuu turns uploaded documents into interactive online publications for free. Issuu is  basically an online library for individuals, publishers and businesses. It’s free and open for everyone, who publish and share the web’s best publications. You can upload any kind of document and Issuu will turn it into the best looking online publication for your convenience.

The uploaded file will be converted to flash file thus making it very light and easy to read online or to download, very much like when you’re reading a digital newspaper commonly available on the internet. They even have three different view modes to fit the individual needs: Magazine, Presentation and Paper. To me it is one of the first service of its kind that really gets me excited because I found it to be very easy to the eye, fast and there are so many interesting and free online magazines available. I’ve invited many of my friends to join Issuu, but surprisingly only a person signed-up to it. A friend of mine even questioned me, “is it Issuu or Issue? I think you had it misspelled”.

A quick search on the website using ‘Malaysia’ as key word will bring you to links such as Urban Life Magazine - Malaysia Special Edition and Malaysia True Health .

Starting August last year Issuu has introduced a new service call Issuu Pro, it offers a way for professional publishers to bring their magazines and newspapers to the internet and enhance them with a variety of digital features and the ability to customize the viewing experience. Publications are ad-free (meaning no ads in the viewer from Issuu—any ads in the magazines or documents themselves remain), and publishers are only charged when their content is viewed, with pricing ranging from $1.10 to $19 per 1,000 publication views. There’s also a new reseller program tailored to ad/web agencies, print shops, and media companies.

Issuu has quite a few competitors trying to become the ‘YouTube for Documents’, including Scribd, Docstoc & Calameo. Below is a sample of Issuu publication.

Tags: online library, publication

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 10:08 am and is filed under BLOG, IT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.