Marc Jacobs sponsors an iPad app for V magazine's "New York" issue

V magazine's fall "New York" issue comes with its very own iPad application sponsored in large part by Marc Jacobs.

Created by tech development company Other Edition, the single-issue application showcases the contents of the entire magazine, including the cheeky cover shot of Lady Gaga and Marc Jacobs, photographed by Mario Testino. 

But the app additionally features behind-the-scenes video footage of Testino's work, a slew of advertisements and brand imagery for Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs photographed by Juergen Teller, an interactive fashion quiz feature (scores are ranked in real time) and a program that lets you customize your own V magazine cover.

Through the Marc Jacobs ad pages, users can also browse and shop through Marc Jacobs’s e-commerce store. The application is available to download for $1 at www.otheredition.com.

The concept of procuring the contents of an entire magazine — with bonus material to boot — for $1 leads us to wonder whether V and other magazines striving to attract readers aren't shooting themselves in the well-shod foot. With such fully loaded apps sprouting up, will readers slowly abandon the printed versions of their favorite publications?

Then again, not jumping on the iPad platform/iPhone platforms would surely mean commercial suicide. Tell us, are you thinking of canceling your snail-mail magazine subscriptions in favor of iPad or iPhone apps? Let us know in the comments section below.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: The cover of V magazine's "New York" issue, as seen on an iPad. Credit: V magazine