Posted by Diane Sears
The end of the world as we know it began on January 27, 2010. What were you doing then? More importantly, what were you reading and how were you reading it?
To most people, when Steve Jobs introduced the Apple iPad that day, it seemed like just another product launch of a tech tool for geeks. But the announcement marked the beginning of a new era in communication, one just as significant as the invention of the printing press. It kicked off a tablet computer revolution that promises to forever change the way we get our information. By the end of next year, the industry is expected to produce 20 different tablet reading devices and sell $12 billion in digital content.
The iPad generated positive buzz last week at the Florida Magazine Association conference in Orlando. Editor in Chief Laureen Crowley Algier and I attended to learn new ways to make AP Matters, AR Matters and Today magazines better for you. Several speakers heralded the tablet computer as the way of the future for magazines like ours.
On a tablet, you see the magazine just as it appears in print, with all of the words and artwork intact. You see the cover, the table of contents, the advertisements, everything. Instead of clicking your mouse button to flip from page to page, you use the tip of your finger to pan the pages from side to side or up and down. Advertisements can be multiple pages. Hyperlinks let you click from the content to other sources, such as websites.
So I have a question for you: Are you reading on a tablet … yet?
Consider this: Today, 49 percent of affluent readers are using a digital device to pore through newspapers and magazines. That’s according to Jeanniey Mullen, chief marketing officer for Zinio, which publishes 2,700 digital magazines in 25 countries and 16 currencies.
Zinio’s research paints this picture of today’s iPad readers:
• Established business people
• Content enthusiasts
• Enjoy reading news and lifestyle publications
• 60 percent men, 40 percent women
• 45 percent age 36-55
• 29 percent age 56-plus
• 27 percent age 18-35
• 80 percent college-educated
• 55 percent household income of $75,000 or more
As more companies manufacture the devices, and prices come down, the tablet will become as commonplace as the cell phone, analysts say. Imagine that.
When my high school teachers and college professors predicted the death of the traditional newspaper, it seemed like something so impossible, my fellow students and I knew we wouldn’t see it in our lifetime. Boy, were we wrong. The key is, we’re seeing profound changes in the delivery method – but the public’s appetite for news is bigger than ever. The iPad, and other tablets to come, could be the prescription that will keep newspapers and magazines alive.
Some people have been waiting for the tablet computer for years. When Steve Jobs was making the iPad announcement, publisher Gregg Hano and his team at Popular Science magazine held their breath. And then they jumped. The global research-and-development team had 62 days to perfect its prototype and pitch it to Apple so it could be one of the first publications featured on the new device. Today, it’s one of the examples Apple points to as perfect content for the tablet format.
The magazine, owned by mega-publisher Bonnier Corp., has been one of the first publications to foray into the digital media scene. Popular Science and a handful of others are gaining traction as people get used to the idea of reading a magazine without smelling ink.
Where do you stand? Do you see yourself reading your favorite publications in digital format?
We’ll be surveying readers soon, and periodically, to keep track of how you want to receive your news. I don’t see us going fully digital right away, so you can still look forward to seeing the magazine in your mailbox.
But I do know one thing: The revolution is under way, and we need to be prepared. The boss needs to buy me an iPad, and quick. Can you help me persuade him? Just e-mail him at tom.bohn@TheIAPP.org.
The end of the world as we know it began on January 27, 2010. What were you doing then? More importantly, what were you reading and how were you reading it?
To most people, when Steve Jobs introduced the Apple iPad that day, it seemed like just another product launch of a tech tool for geeks. But the announcement marked the beginning of a new era in communication, one just as significant as the invention of the printing press. It kicked off a tablet computer revolution that promises to forever change the way we get our information. By the end of next year, the industry is expected to produce 20 different tablet reading devices and sell $12 billion in digital content.
The iPad generated positive buzz last week at the Florida Magazine Association conference in Orlando. Editor in Chief Laureen Crowley Algier and I attended to learn new ways to make AP Matters, AR Matters and Today magazines better for you. Several speakers heralded the tablet computer as the way of the future for magazines like ours.
On a tablet, you see the magazine just as it appears in print, with all of the words and artwork intact. You see the cover, the table of contents, the advertisements, everything. Instead of clicking your mouse button to flip from page to page, you use the tip of your finger to pan the pages from side to side or up and down. Advertisements can be multiple pages. Hyperlinks let you click from the content to other sources, such as websites.
So I have a question for you: Are you reading on a tablet … yet?
Consider this: Today, 49 percent of affluent readers are using a digital device to pore through newspapers and magazines. That’s according to Jeanniey Mullen, chief marketing officer for Zinio, which publishes 2,700 digital magazines in 25 countries and 16 currencies.
Zinio’s research paints this picture of today’s iPad readers:
• Established business people
• Content enthusiasts
• Enjoy reading news and lifestyle publications
• 60 percent men, 40 percent women
• 45 percent age 36-55
• 29 percent age 56-plus
• 27 percent age 18-35
• 80 percent college-educated
• 55 percent household income of $75,000 or more
As more companies manufacture the devices, and prices come down, the tablet will become as commonplace as the cell phone, analysts say. Imagine that.
When my high school teachers and college professors predicted the death of the traditional newspaper, it seemed like something so impossible, my fellow students and I knew we wouldn’t see it in our lifetime. Boy, were we wrong. The key is, we’re seeing profound changes in the delivery method – but the public’s appetite for news is bigger than ever. The iPad, and other tablets to come, could be the prescription that will keep newspapers and magazines alive.
Some people have been waiting for the tablet computer for years. When Steve Jobs was making the iPad announcement, publisher Gregg Hano and his team at Popular Science magazine held their breath. And then they jumped. The global research-and-development team had 62 days to perfect its prototype and pitch it to Apple so it could be one of the first publications featured on the new device. Today, it’s one of the examples Apple points to as perfect content for the tablet format.
The magazine, owned by mega-publisher Bonnier Corp., has been one of the first publications to foray into the digital media scene. Popular Science and a handful of others are gaining traction as people get used to the idea of reading a magazine without smelling ink.
Where do you stand? Do you see yourself reading your favorite publications in digital format?
We’ll be surveying readers soon, and periodically, to keep track of how you want to receive your news. I don’t see us going fully digital right away, so you can still look forward to seeing the magazine in your mailbox.
But I do know one thing: The revolution is under way, and we need to be prepared. The boss needs to buy me an iPad, and quick. Can you help me persuade him? Just e-mail him at tom.bohn@TheIAPP.org.
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iPads offer an amazing opportunity to be more efficient, but are AP departments going to be given these expensive tools??
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