Alexandra Whittaker
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  • JOUR 1550

TIME.com: revamped and ready to take on the 21st century

10/22/2012

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Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the new and improved TIME.com front page.
Earlier today, TIME.com launched a completely redesigned website that has been revamped in order to make it more streamlined and easier to navigate. TIME argues that this change is revolutionary because this is the first time that a major magazine has changed its website so that it not only accommodates internet browsers, but mobile and tablet browsers as well.

This is a pretty big statement to make, so I decided to see for myself whether this is a practical change that can truly accomodate tablet and mobile users, and I also wanted to check on whether this website change was really as monumental as TIME argues it is.  

I started off by testing the TIME.com website on a few different devices. First and foremost was an iPad. The TIME.com page on the iPad did not look any different from the internet page, as expected, but one difference I saw was that the image quality on the TIME website was far superior than the image quality on other websites. 

After testing the iPad, I tested the Kindle as well as an iPhone and an Android phone, all of which were able to accomodate the TIME.com website's high quality graphics and were relatively easy to navigate. This is a positive move away from other websites that are not equipped to deal with browsers on other devices, and I think that this change puts TIME at the forefront of both adaptivity and social media technology. 

The TIME website was able to hold up the same quality of website despite the device used to access it, and this is extraordinary impressive, but I am still not sure about 'revolutionary.' TIME makes the claim that they are "the first global news site to roll out a fully responsive redesign optimized for mobile and tablet browsing," but I am not sure that this is true. 

Looking at other expansive global news sites, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, who both have tablet and mobile-friendly websites in place, it seems to me as if TIME's claim is exaggerated. I would be interested to see how they would define 'fully responsive', however, as this might be the key in differentiating TIME's website access from other news sites that have essentially already done the same thing. Regardless of this claim, though, it is clear that this redesign is a step up for TIME and a step forward in terms of technology and accommodating media changes. 
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This is what the TIME front page looked like before October 22.
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It's topic TIME!

10/1/2012

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After sifting through the TIME website this past week, I found myself returning to TIME's topic page over and over again. Not only is this page distinctive and unique, but it is also a really good way to keep yourself entertained for a couple of hours.

The topic page has a wide variety of categories listed, each holding specific special interest stories that are meant to teach you something new. The topics cover everything from world politics to entertainment, and everything in between. 

Personally, my favorite section had to be the crime section. It was distinct in that it had human interest stories that kept my attention and also taught me a lot about subjects I would not otherwise read about. After reading through some of the crime tabs, I learned about the FBI and punishments for certain crimes. 
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I think that the information really stuck with me because in almost every case, it was paired with some sort of memorable personal story, and I thought this section did the best job of delivering journalistic information that was entertaining, yet informative. 
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    Alexandra Whittaker is a junior journalism and writing-intensive English double major at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This blog chronicles her experiences in Marquette's JOUR 1550 Digital Journalism II class.

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