#FF00AA

The iPad version of Wired Magazine is going to be based on Adobe AIR and that very idea gives me a rash (what? you get a tiny chance to save your magazine and you tie yourself to a dying technology?), yet I have to admit that:

• the virtual magazine looks really cool

• if the creative department can really make all of this, month after month, all in InDesign, it’s a huge advantage over any other solution

• the fact that it’s gonna be compatible with a bunch of different platforms with little to no additional development is another big plus

• it helps that Adobe probably made the app for them at little to no cost

I’m curious to see how aggressive Adobe is going to be at pushing their solution to content publishers (I’m guessing: very), but when you take all of those points into account there’s really no other alternative quite as good and versatile.

If only Flash wasn’t involved in that equation — the app looks great in their demo on a tablet PC, but there’s no telling how sluggish and crashy the iPad version will be when it comes out of Adobe’s frankensteinian compiler.