In all the talk about the iPad saving the magazine industry few have pointed out the single most important change that Apple’s new magic slate is bringing. The iPad will finally deliver the Internet (blogs, social networking, and the realtime web) to the print media’s last stronghold, namely, the bedroom, the bathroom, and the beach.
Rather than offering print media a helping hand into their digital futures, the iPad will deliver the final knock-out blow to the magazine format’s quivering jaw. And, creating an environment where old media is enthusiastically cheering the approach of its own executioner is simply another example of the genius of Steve Jobs.
Come on now! We already signed up for our $17 WSJ subscription. And $4.99 an issue for Time!? Done and done.
I like the premise you’re hitting at with “the three B’s”…I’ve never heard it put that way… very true and a great term, nut sure if it’s an “old media” term but it hits it well
Lets see some early adapter ipad reviews from this community.
Pictures of people waiting in lines to buy things there are awesome front page news!
I publish a skate magazine and I have an iphone app…and I have another one coming. When we first brought out the iphone app we decided to charge 99 cents. We got a little bit of a response. Once we made it free, we get about 20 to 30 downloads a day…not great, but much better than what were getting.
I am glad the wall street journal and mags like Time feel they need to charge for their content with the ipad. But I have a sneaky suspicion that folks ain’t gonna pay. Early adapters of course will pay…but most people expect digital news and information to be free.
if the presentation on the iPad is incredible and a truly different medium, they might pay. But the gee whiz factor better be at defcon 8! And having all the super duper video etc in an iPad app does not come cheap. So, if you can’t get advertisers to pay more and you can’t get subscribers to pay, you might find yourself going backwards.
I think the iPad is a very cool product and I think it will make reading a book or newspaper an enjoyable experience. As a niche magazine publisher however, I am still not convinced that there is a sustainable business model. I do however, see the iPad, like the web and dvd’s and posters and calendars (and lord knows what else I can dream up) as being part of my magazines universe. The magazine retains its roll as the cornerstone of what I do…for niche publishers, I think the task is stoking the hell out of your readers with the medium of paper first and then seeing what else you can do.
SO you drop the pad….it’s broken
you drop it in the sand……it’s f*ck’d.
Run out of power….. it’s useless.
ETC……
Sadly for now– us cro-magnum “club welding” animals still like the ink on paper.
Till the computer can make a cheeseburger that taste good. Don’t believe the hype !!!
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