Maghound, Time Inc.’s new magazine subscription service, is not a “Netflix for magazines.” But it still has potential.

The fundamental difference between Netflix and Maghound is the issue of ownership. Within Netflix, no member owns any merchandise, only the company does. Sure, folks may keep a DVD for a couple of years before returning it, but it still isn’t theirs. This model works because DVDs have a limited mobility. There’s no reason to roll up a DVD sleeve to try and swat a fly, no reason to cram it into a picnic basket and take it to the park, and no reason to sneak it into the bathroom. Magazines don’t have that luxury.

If Maghound required the magazines to be returned to a central warehouse, they’d come back crinkled, crumpled, and creased. Instead, Maghound lets all of its members keep the fruit of their subscriptions. This changes the business model, but it also changes the ethos of the service. Netflix users are all part of the same community, sharing the same defined set of DVDs. Maghound users are part of the same service but take part in a decidedly individual experience. Only so many people can huddle around a copy of Real Simple. To prevent being a Web 1.0 service in a Web 2.0 age, Maghound will have community networking features, but they aren’t available yet. If the company is smart, a Facebook application is in the pipeline.

Maghound is hunting for users with fresh eyes. You won’t be able to grandfather your subscriptions into Maghound’s service, even if they’re under the Time Inc. umbrella. Practically, this means Maghound could get off to a slow start as heavy mag readers wait for their current subscriptions to expire. Maghound is preparing for that circumstance by beta-launching the site now and rolling out a marketing plan in as many as six months. Netflix, of course, doesn’t have that problem, since few people are subscribed to Blockbuster.