I would. Conde Nast announced a new strategy to generate paid readership on smartphones yesterday. Starting with the December issue of GQ, iPhone users will be able to purchase the magazine as a $2.99 app. The app will have all the edit and advertising from the print edition, along with the ability to link to additional content. This is apparently the first step in making more publications available across additional digital platforms, from e-readers (like the cool new Barnes & Noble Nook) to desktop computers.

I think this is a pretty cool idea. Probably not a game-changer for Conde Nast in terms of revenue generation, but a good way to move beyond ink and paper while still charging for the publication.

I haven't actually read GQ in a while, but i'd absolutely pay to read Golf Digest on my iPhone. Under these conditions:

• I'd pay $.99 a month, not $2.99. Printing and shipping are huge expenses. I'm already paying a bunch to have an iPhone. A buck seems very reasonable, and also a price point where more people will see it as a quick impulse buy.

• Make it easy to enjoy the content. Don't just reformat the magazine to fit on my screen like a PDF that I need to zoom in and out on. Yes, I'd like a way to see pages as they appear in the magazine, but also a way to just have the copy or the photos in a large, easy-to-see manner. The Detroit Free Press and News did this right on their electronic editions, where you see a representation of the physical paper, then clicking on the story takes you to a text-only version of that piece. 

• Make it shareable, so I can send a story or a photo via email to a friend. 

• Make it portable, the way Barnes & Noble and Amazon are doing with their e-readers. If I start a book on my iPhone, it syncs to my MacBook so I can pick up in the same spot when I log on at my desk. 

All of these things are doable, and would make the experience more than just reading a smaller, repurposed version of the print magazine. I'd love having an entire issue of Golf Digest on my iPhone that I could read when I had a few minutes while waiting in carpool, eating lunch, etc. Advertisers would like this, too. This actually sounds like a cool way to look at a startup magazine – instead of hiring a circulation director, you hire a programmer to handle the e-reader/phone work. Hmmm ... .