Tablets mana from heaven for forward-thinking publishers
Over the past few years, there have been numerous attempts to make magazines more interactive. Sadly, most of those attempts tended to revolve around gimmicky, impractical augmented reality stunts, where a magazine might be held up to the computer screen and a photo ‘comes to life’. There was already a medium for this: it was called video. And there was plenty of it on that thing called the internet. But for the first time in a long time, if some of the app demonstrations deliver what they promise, the integrated digital content soon to be offered up appears to offer actual benefits to everyone involved in the process—the readers, the advertisers and, if the money starts coming back, the publishers.
Not surprisingly, Wired magazine, in conjunction with Adobe, is at the forefront of the transition to tablet computing and thinks the advances will change the publishing industry, improving the user experience and, join hands and pray, the economics. Chris Anderson, Wired’s editor-in-chief, likens this period to the industry upheavals that resulted when television was introduced, usurping radio’s throne.
Sports Illustrated has also demonstrated the potential of the technology for its magazine.
So, with all this potential to breathe new life into magazines and other media, how will the New Zealand industry respond?
David MacGregor
February 17, 2010
It is exciting to see the potential for a title like Sports Illustrated. One thing you should never forget when you consider new channels is that it doesn't necessarily follow that there will be enough new revenue to support them.
The costs associated with developing high quality print are substantial; my experience with Idealog demonstrated that to me in a way I hadn't realise before we started the venture.
Add in the cost of video and interactivity to the same high standard and pretty soon you're talking a serious chunk of change.
My guess is that to make the most of the opportunity the new delivery devices (ok, thee iPad) offer, publishers will have to form relationships with other content creators – which may include advertisers – to syndicate the costs and share the benefits.
The road to a fully digital magazine experience is likely to be bumpy – certainly while you are reliant on the cash flow from paper and ink. It's going to be a little Catch 22. Trying to make a profit from what you have while investing in digital and a future product that is satisfying enough for readers to pay a premium.
I was a fan of the Zinio delivery format, but I never got around to paying for a subscription…darned consumers, we're so fickle.
John Baker
February 20, 2010
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ffbdc0d4-175f-11df-87f6-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1