Silver Bullet for Publishing?

Publishers in various forms and shapes are still at the core of our day-to-day content supply. Some digital natives working at media agencies these days are wondering whether they should continue investing in publishing dinosaurs. Everything on mobile! It’s the iPad!

Well, I agree some may look like dinosaurs in their (broadsheet) print formats, but they know how to process content and how to present it the best way. They are just struggling to find out how to make money with the various channels available. Some developments are taking place fast and a century old industry just seems to lack time to adapt.

Maybe the introduction of iPhone and iPad will change things to the better. The future of books, magazines and newspapers seems brighter, thanks to Apple. I read a great quote on one of the iPad blogs recently: “….. it creates a whole new channel for sharing content with consumers, and it also begins to define a new creative medium that can become part of a communications strategy.”

I’m listing for you 10 challenging thoughts on the iPad I found in relation to publishing. Bits taken from a debate initiated by a recent column on AdAge.

1. The iPad could be the turning point – are consumers willing to subscribe for regularly delivered content again? New models are to be developed for billing, revenue sharing and advertising.
2. The web has proven to be a lousy platform for branding. It used to be owned by magazines and newspapers and they could become king of the hill again if applied smartly.
3. The new generation-Y wants constant streams of info, but their iPhone is too small to show real compelling pictures and video. The content is available, a new suitable channel is borne?
4. Distribution of content has skipped another big hurdle. Is this the best of TV (video), radio (sound) and magazine/paper (print) combined? Electronic publishing is now really upon us.
5. But, you can read books and listen to music on your laptop too. There is no work software on the iPad, so an extra gadget to carry along.
6. Interactivity with books is news. The idea of “augmented content” or “augmented literature” is a new category created. It’s about the user’s EXPERIENCE with the devices that really matter. Not getting WORK done.
7. The iPad has major hardware issues. It is the software (iTunes store) and marketplace that makes Apple worth mentioning in this context. You are NOT going to need an iPad to access content. I.e, listen to iTunes on a Window’s machine.
8. (comparing to iPod and iTunes) in the case of the iPad, the revolution may be the Apple bookstore, not the device.
9. The iPad isn’t a pill publishers can take and, presto, become attractive. It’s going to take WORK. Lots of it — the painful, sacrificing, work-up-a-sweat kind.
10. Because magazines are created for targeted communities their advertisements in print magazines are just as much a part of the reader’s experience as the editorial content. This is also why print is still extremely effective. In regards to the iPad, if publishers and agencies can carry that experience over to the iPad you’ll continue to have a win-win-win situation with the reader, publisher, and advertiser.