I reckon Golf Digest is the best golf magazine on the market, and apparently plenty of golfers feel the same – it just pips Golf Monthly in terms of circulation. I personally prefer the instruction section in Golf Digest…….but that doesn’t stop me getting both mags each month (something my wife can’t quite understand!).
Tips + Smart Phone
Anyway, late last year Golf Digest introduced a ’smart’ phone version of their Tips Plus feature. Tips Plus is a section on Golf Digest’s website that provides a video version of most of the instruction articles that appear in the magazine.
As of November last year, in addition to being able to go online to view the videos, you can now view them using your ’smart’ phone by scanning a barcode from the magazine. It uses a recently developed application called ‘Microsoft Tag’, and it’s pretty cool.
The 1980’s style Microsoft video below shows how the technology works.
The Golf Digest site provides a guide to setting up the Microsoft Tag, which in summary is as follows:
- Download the Microsoft Tag application to your phone or PDA
- Open the application and point your phone or PDA at the barcode in the Golf Digest magazine
- The instruction video will automatically start
Novelty or Mainstay?
It will be interesting to see if this application takes off, or whether it will be a short-lived novelty. I can see myself using it, particularly if I’m reading the magazine on the bus or elsewhere away from my PC. There’s no question that people are experiencing and expecting more of this type of technology, and Golf Digest should be applauded for being at the cutting edge…….a quality not always associated with the golf industry!
