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Paul DeBraccio
There has been much written about the launch of iPad. Many have written about it as the new Holy Grail and the savior of the publishing world. Others have taken it to task (or taken it apart) chip by chip for not having a video cam or for being too big to be used as a phone or for fear that the iBookstore will disconnect us from our customers.
My point is that the iPad and Bookstore will be helpful to magazine circulation, but at what cost?
Apple wants to retain control of the consumer relationship, which means they will also control access. Will the cost of renewals increase exponentially, or will consumers be forced to choose between Apple and other formats, thus forcing publishers to the back of the circulation bus?
Both SI and Wired have jumped into the Apple reader first. Time will tell if these ventures are profitable and scalable. I am not sure that it will be an effective, efficient groundbreaking tool or just another channel like blow-in cards. How these channels impact on overall production budgets remains to be seen, too. Publishers may need to produce content and content formats for Kindle, Sony, iPad audiences in different formats from both a technical or topical perspective.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that all of this is simply a band aid for a much bigger issue. iPad is a shiny new catalyst. It will compel publishers of magazines, newspapers, books, videos, etc., to reexamine their distribution strategies, of course, but with broader implications than just iPad as a distribution channel. The online pay wall has not worked well thus far, and Kindle and the others have worked well for some publishers and not others.
However a universal replacement (or more accurately complement) to paper is not yet on the horizon. The Internet gained universal acceptance because it had universal distribution. There were a few glitches with some sites and databases on Apples at first, but now it is 99% the same as PC when it comes to viewing pages. It would be great if a universal viewing or distribution program is developed for the next generation of laptop/notebook/netbook/smartphone/readers. It would be a big step for the magazine industry if publishers can all agree on formats like they did with magazine pages and newspaper specs years ago.
Unfortunately, there are more than 13 e-reader formats and 16 different readers to choose from today (not counting iPad) for publishers and consumers. We appear to be in for a bloody battle and a few more iterations before the dust settles and publishers and consumers have fewer choices for their reading pleasure.
No, the iPad is not the Holy Grail, but it may bring us a few steps closer to finding it.
To be continued and continued and continued.
Minsider columnist Paul DeBraccio is CEO of Interevco.
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