Gourment Magazine rescued by the iPad. Yay!

A few months ago I read an article in My SXSW about the demise of Gourmet Magazine and a host of others. From the article:

"The magazine world is in turmoil. Between 2007 and 2010, 1684 magazines have folded, including bona fide institutions, like Gourmet. Those left standing, however, are finally getting up the innovation curve. But what a curve - in their expensive (and top-heavy!) quest for glossy perfection, magazines have fumbled at creating compelling online content - and in making their content compelling online. Luckily, just as they are getting the hang of it, perceptions around valuing content are shifting back toward actually - gasp! - paying for it. And all of this has come to a head in just in time for a potential game-changer: the iPad. Is a magazine still a magazine if it's on an LCD screen? Will e-readers like the iPad and the Kindle keep the notion of a "magazine" strong - or bleed it into the amorphous world of "content?" Will advertisers pony up, whatever the medium? Do we care enough about long-form journalism to keep it alive - by paying for it? Is the glossy a thing of the past - or is there an app for that? And the real question at the end of the day: Do magazines still matter?"

Today's New York Times carried an article this morning titled Gourmet Magazine Revived for the iPad in which they quoted Conde Nast as announcing it would resurrect Gourmet magazine, the celebrated food and travel publication the company discontinued last October, as an iPad application called Gourmet Live.

The iPad application will be offered at no charge and according to the publisher, and it will utilize some of the iPad's features to create much more than just an on-line magazine. “It’s not a magazine and its not a digital version of a magazine,” said Chuck Townsend, chief executive of Conde Nast. “It’s a whole new way to engage with consumers.” The new application will also allow users to share articles to social sites like Facebook and Twitter, tag articles as favorites and see which articles are more popular among their friends.

Here is a brief video introduction to the app: