This should be interesting. Flipboard is getting an editorial director from the world of print magazines: Josh Quittner, my former boss at Business 2.0 magazine and most recently the editor at Time Inc. behind many of its digital magazine initiatives. (Quittner is the one on the right in this picture from our B2.0 days, with Om Malik and me in the background).
I’ve been telling Josh for years that he should leave print behind and dive headfirst into digital, and I’m glad to see him finally taking my advice. When Josh talks about what a digital magazine should be, Flipboard is actually the first thing that comes to mind. He’s been toying with the idea of creating a purely digital magazine for the iPad, and it will be interesting to see if any of those ideas make it into Flipboard. Last time I spoke with Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, he had just come from a meeting at Time Inc. and he was taking just like Josh, saying, “people like to see their content atomized,” a Quittnerism I was familiar with.
Part of Flipboard’s strategy is to partner with print publications and bring them onto the Flipboard platform. Quittner’s task will be to help bridge those two worlds, which is what he’s been doing inside Time Inc since the days of Pathfinder anyway. “My job will be working with publishers to create amazing editorial experiences on Flipboard.” he says. “I’ll also be helping to add the editorial bit to the product itself as it evolves.”
Welcome to the dark side, Josh.
Photo credit: Laughing Squid (Scott Beale)
Photo credit: Laughing Squid (Scott Beale)