Condé Nast closed the doors on Gourmet last October, but President of Consumer Marketing for Condé Nast Robert Sauerberg said the brand was never completely shut down.

“By focusing on a new way to meet consumer needs, tap into our deep branding, and approach our content differently, we came up with a product that re-imagines Gourmet and revalues engagement,” CEO Chuck Townsend said. “We are extremely pleased with the magazine apps we have developed as part of our R&D efforts, however Gourmet Live is profoundly different. We approached this like a tech company, utilizing the rich assets of a media company, keeping Condé Nast at the forefront of content innovation.”

He said Gourmet Live aims to attract a younger, Web-savvy audience in addition to previous readers of Gourmet magazine.

Gourmet Live adds a twist to the future of magazines. Previously, it was commonly agreed upon that the future of magazines was on the Internet, but individual apps are a relatively new development.

What is most interesting is Townsendâ€s statement that a technological approach was taken. He also said Gourmet Live is “not a magazine and itâ€s not a digital version of a magazine.” What is it then? If other magazines choose to follow the same path, will the word magazine and/or our current idea of what that is become obsolete in the future? We also worry about the quality of the content for such apps if technology is considered foremost in development, though the bright side is the potential for struggling publications to find new footing in the digital realm.

While much of the conversation was based on the corporate side of things, there were some interesting topics discussed that matter to those outside of the media industry.  One of the biggest themes of the panel, and of the conference as a whole so far, was the iPad.  According to Davis, the iPad is a better way to experience magazines than actual magazines.  Chubb’s numbers seem to reflect that, with 75 percent of Epicurious apps being accessed through the iPad.  Vanity Fair has also seen 90 percent of it’s 35,000 app downloads accessed from the iPad. While GQ’s man of the year issue may have had lackluster results on the iPad {Media Memo/AllThingsD}, it seems apps with more up to date content is faring a bit better.

If there was one major thing all the panelists could agree on, it was that content needs to be social.  According to Ronen, since we can now discuss content as soon as it’s aired or shown, media companies need to bring out better content.  That content could be better just by virtue of being a higher quality products, or something that offers a specialized focus.

According to the panelists, media companies are shifting from a product-centric model to a customer-focus.  That means more personalized content for everyone – we’ll see if that goes over better for publishers than it did for Facebook.  But personalization can  easily provide more specific content for segmented markets with different interests, and coupled with better content could only mean good things for everyone.

One of the first panels at TechCrunch Disrupt, Evolve or Die: The Future of Music, TV, Games and Publishing, featured Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee; Sarah Chubb, President of Conde Nast Digital; John Hagel, Co-Chairman of Center for the Edge; and Fred Davis, Fouding Partner of CODE Advisors with Michael Wolf, Founder and Managing Director of Activate as moderator.  The topic of the panel was just what it sounds like, how media companies have to evolve (or die) in the changing media spheres.

A full transcript is available at TechCrunch {TechCrunch}.