Stodgy old publications like the Wall Street Journal called Apple’s new iPad a “gadget,” as if it’s another in a long line of can openers. But for those of us in the publishing realm, this new product is no ordinary product. Advertising Age said on its Web site, “The iPad offers a new way for publishers to deliver their content to consumers at greatly reduced costs.” Printing and shipping costs are virtually eliminated. While there are no hard and fast formulas as yet for pricing content delivered to e-reader devices, the article cites The New York Times metered pay plan as a possible business model. In this system, announced January 20, minimal content is free, but for extended reading, a fee, giving unlimited access, must be paid. In the Times scheme, regular subscribers receive the e-paper free of charge. This may be one way magazines will transition to digital content. Other models, such as Amazon’s uses for its Kindle, offer best-selling books at a special Kindle price. Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, for example, is currently selling for $9.60 for the Kindle version. But iPad is no Kindle. In fact it’s not like any of the other existing e-readers. It’s got a large viewing area, it’s in full-color and there are already 140,000 iPad apps available. Even Sony, which makes a competing e-reader product, thinks the Apple iPad is great. Says Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Division, on The Christian Science Monitor Web site, “At Sony, we’re focused on devices optimized for digital reading and believe that digital book sales will surpass print sales within five years, if not sooner.” The same is probably true for magazine sales. While photo magazines like AC have a distinct advantage over other print magazines, in that readers can closely examine large versions of great photos, the time will eventually come when dead-tree publishing will be at an end. This is not really news. What’s news is that the iPad is the first device built to seriously handle this new digital media. Comments, feedback? Email me at gvaranakis@rfpublishing.com.
George Varanakis
Group Publisher & Executive Vice President