I had fun this week playing with the GQ’s UK edition iPad app. With its slick interface, rich additional materials and engaging content - it was not only superior to its US counterpart, but also one of the better iPad magazines I’ve seen. That said, something was still missing. And, as is often the case - it was missing from my mind. One of the most interesting theories on mental states is ‘flow’ - proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. The theory is deceptively simple - during certain activities it is possible to be so happily immersed in your task that you reach a point when action and awareness seem to merge. Musicians, racing car drivers and Buddhist monks have all experienced it. And normally, while reading the print edition of GQ in a cool cafe with a strong expresso - I can also get pretty close. But alas, not so much on my iPad. Somewhere in all that exploring, poking, rotating, and sliding of screen elements - while admirably interactive - the experience of media flow is disrupted.

Please don’t take this as a simple preference of analogue versus digital mediums. I can lose myself in a Kindle book, or while typing in a flow orientated interface like the IA Writer. The problem is more subtle. Years ago, when the first CD-ROMs made multimedia sexy, we envisioned a day when all of our entertainment content would become non-linear, multi-path adventures. It didn’t take long to discover that there is a reason that the likes of Stephen Spielberg and Ridley Scott are famous directors - they do a better job of selecting scenes and narrative options than the average Joe. Interactivity, quite simply, can get in the way of a good story. Or, it would seem, also a little glossy magazine gratification.