Playboy Cover to Cover -- the 50's: Searchable Digital Archive--Every Page, Every Issue

Playboy Cover to Cover -- the 50's: Searchable Digital Archive--Every Page, Every Issue
by Playboy

Playboy Cover to Cover -- the 50's: Searchable Digital Archive--Every Page, Every Issue
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Book Summary Information

Author: Playboy
Compiler: Bondi Digital Publishing
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-09
ISBN: 0979526116
Number of pages: 202
Publisher: Bondi Digital Publishing

Book Reviews of Playboy Cover to Cover -- the 50's: Searchable Digital Archive--Every Page, Every Issue

Book Review: A Decade in Box Never Looked So Good!
Summary: 5 Stars

An earlier reviewer felt it was a problem that the issue files are not PDF. Maybe he doesn't have a lot of experience with these things, but there is absolutely nothing to worry about because it is a piece of cake convert them to PDF if you want. And you don't need some obscure "hack"...in fact, both MAC and PC have the ability to convert the files right from the print function.

To do that, open an issue in the bondi reader and then go to the normal print dialog as if you were going to print, and instead of choosing a printer, pick the print to PDF option. Done. It saves a copy of the file in the PDF format to your hard drive. After that you can open the file in any application that opens PDFs. Now why you would want to do that is another story...you would loose all the functionality that the bondi software gives you to search and browse...but if you feel you need a back-up, it is an option.

Now for the rest of the review...first of all the presentation is just fantastic. I loved the well designed elegant, yet understated box-set, which opens to reveal the 2-DVD set on one side, and a beautiful coffee table book on the other side. They also include a faithful re-issue of the very first issue of Playboy, with Marilyn Monroe. (which on its own sells for $25 on the Playboy site) The book, the reissue and the DVD set come out of the box set, which is nice because you can take the DVD set to your computer, and sit with the book and magazine wherever you like to read.

But the real star is the digital archive and all those great issues of Playboy from the 50s. Looking at Playboy's first decade in its entirety like this is to travel back in time to a post war America that was looking for a little levity. The pictorials are more playful and peek a boo than anything else - Vargas come to life really. It is abundantly clear from the very first issue that this was going to be a magazine that featured good writing...with world-class contributors a plenty.

The software is fast to load and the interface is sleek - maybe more importantly it was easy to figure out how it works and I found myself up and reading without even really thinking about it. They scanned every issue, front to back (hence the name Cover to Cover I guess)...so that means you get to read the entire issues, including ads for Jazztone records, bongos and the Czech aluminum engine Skoda cars. When an issue is open in the view mode, you flip the pages and then you can quickly zoom in on anything that you want to read. There are quick-key commands for those that like them. I have a scroll wheel and I just scroll down as I read. The experience is easy and I found myself browsing issue after issue and reading some terrific great old articles. The January 1957 issue, for instance, has a little gem, the Walter Tevis short story, The Hustler, which was adapted a few years later for the Paul Newman movie of the same name.

It is also really interesting to simply browse the covers. Playboy's design was progressive and well ahead of its time through out the 50s. When you see all the covers taken together this way, it is an impressive body of work with a clear sense of art direction emerging. When you find something you like you just click the cover and the digital issue opens so you can read it.

The interesting thing is how you can search and browse, however. In the age of the Search Bar, we are used to searching google style. But say you like Ray Bradbury and want to see everything that he wrote? It is very easy to use the "browse by category" function do that. I started typeing Bradbury and it immediately pulls up all the pieces he wrote. A "search" function would only find the mentions of the word "Bradbury", not necessarily what he wrote. So for locating all the works of a specific contributor the bondi software makes it a real snap.

Once you find an article, you can either go to it directly to read it, or save a link to it in your "reading lists", which is nifty little feature that lets you compile lists of selections for reading later.

The book that comes with it, Under the Covers, the 50s, is like a copy of Hef's scrapbook and would make a great stand-alone book. With many pictures and ephemera that have never been published, the book provides a rich back-story to the digital archive and tells the story of the evolution of the magazine. For instance, we learn at the beginning of the book that Hefner's mother invested $1,000 in the launch of his new venture...and we see his actual letter of thanks to her...which makes sure to thank her ever-the-more because he acknowledges that she didn't necessarily agree with all that he was doing. In this way the book follows the start up through to 1960, and has many of Hef's personal letters, notes, contact sheets marked with his selections, along with a lot of commentary from other media outlets about the magazine.

All in all a great value, and an amazing way to experience the first decade of Playboy in it entirety. Looking forward to seeing what they do for the 1960s

Summary of Playboy Cover to Cover -- the 50's: Searchable Digital Archive--Every Page, Every Issue


System Requirements
  • Platform: Windows 2000 SP2 / XP / Vista, Mac OS X Minimum
  • 512 MB of RAM (1 GB RAM recommended)
  • 750 MB of free hard drive space
  • Minimum screen resolution 1024 x 768
  • Media: DVD-ROM
  • Item Quantity: 1

Software Features
  • Easy to use and searchable digital archive with every issue, every page (even the ads!) of Playboy from the 1950s on 2 DVD-ROMs
  • Includes the powerful Bondi Reader and search engine (Mac or PC). Find and read any award winning cover story, interview, photo or review in seconds
  • The browse-by-cover feature lets you visually locate any issue by its cover--simply click the cover and the issue opens to read
  • Custom reading lists let you organize the collection any way you want
Book Description

What do Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Jayne Mansfield and Brigitte Bardot have in common? They are the most alluring sex symbols of all time--and they all graced the pages of Playboy in the 1950s. But Playboy wasn't only about beautiful women--it featured serious literature by equally serious writers like Hemingway, Kerouac, Bradbury, and Steinbeck.

Playboy Cover to Cover--the 50s brings the magazine's entire groundbreaking first decade--every issue, every page, cover to cover--into one searchable digital archive.

This exclusive box set features the Bondi Reader, powerful MAC or PC browsing software that allows you to explore, search, save and arrange multiple reading lists. Every story, feature and interview, and of course every Playmate, can be located in seconds, and then compiled and cross-referenced however you choose. Playboy Cover to Cover--the 50s also comes with a 224?page companion coffee table book chronicling the behind-the- scenes history of Playboy and filled with never-before-published letters, photos, and contact sheets of Playboy?s amazing first decade. A collector's edition reissue of the extremely rare first issue--featuring Marilyn Monroe's breathtaking cover and pictorial--is included as a special bonus. This essential collection is a must for lifelong fans and subscribers of Playboy, nostalgia seekers, history and culture buffs, as well as all lovers of beautiful women.



Take a Tour Through Playboy Cover to Cover--the 50s

Click each image below to see a full-size version of spreads from the book and screenshots of the digital archive.


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