It’s already ultra-cool of The Verge to have Bill Gates taking over as guest editor this February, but besides the much-awaited interview feature, he’s narrating how he envisions technology will solve problems in developing countries by 2030—accompanied by animated infographics.
Here’s his take on mobile banking helping the poor:
And, animations like this one are interspersed in both the article and video:
I’ve seen a few comments saying the animations in the video are distracting, and they’d rather watch a straight interview. I say Verge covers both preferences with the two kinds of videos, and of course for the readers, a stylized article page (it’s no “Fanboys”, just nicely laid out).
Not really a ground-breaking strategy, but it pays fine attention to detail in a journalistic setting, executed in different channels of technology and design.
(If you want another serving: Ira Glass’s “The Gap”, and a bunch of cleverly done interpretations.)