Comments on: Apple is About to Save the Printed Media Industry

By: sayyeah!

sayyeah! — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:36:15 +0000

so i’m assuming that there would be some kind of DRM protecting each file, you know, because sharing isn’t profitable.

haha… I can see it now, damn newspaper pirates

By: WWP

WWP — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:22:15 +0000

Working in a big media company, I can confirm that we’re actively looking at ways of selling the content in more efficient ways. Micro-payments (a free version and 30 cents for the complete version) would be the killer feature.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:49:30 +0000

When it comes to technology, Apple doesn’t innovate just to make awesome stuff. Steve Jobs said years ago that they were building a phone and many other devices and technologies, and that none of them would see the light of day if it doesn’t fix something that is painfully broken. They didn’t just release a digital music player. They release a digital music solution for the agony of getting music on to your computer in a managable way and quickly syncing to a player. iPhoto fixed the “chain of pain”: downlading photos from your camera, managing them, and then sharing them without worrying about color accuracy (especially printing). MacBook Air: ultra-portable without performace compromise. iMovie: same as iPhoto.

When it comes to new technology, Apple’s self-proclaimed MO is “fix a problem.” I just don’t see the problem with magazines and news papers and books. The cost of these things is not the actual printing. It’s the labor, which won’t ago away. What you save in shipping, Apple will eat up with Its 30%. you can’t scribble notes in the column. You can’t put coupons in. And even if I could see why Penguin Books would want to publish to digital, why would I (me, this guy) buy it? Newspapers are free or REALLY cheap. Books aren’t any cheaper digitally than in print. And I don’t have to worry about losing them. I just don’t see anything broken, from us consumers’ point of view that Apple needs to fix. If Apple is intoducing a Media Tablet, there is a broader issue that they are addressing.

The question is: would you buy one? Honestly? Would you spend a few hundred dollars on one? Would you actually use it? And would it be worth it to you? More people, I think, would say that about digital music than the would about digital books, even before the iPod.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:08:24 +0000

As much as I see a future – and a bright one – for kindle & ibook, I fail to see what they improve compared to paper books and magazines. Just a few points:
-> Steal or break a magazine will no make you cry.
-> Apple will make digital distribution as expensive as paper distribution
-> Magazines do not need power refill
-> I do not need more than 1-2 magazines or books with me

These points will remain valid over time, and will balance the distribution market between paper and digital.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:29:03 +0000

I sure hope this happens