Is iPad the print publishing killler we been waiting for?

[Tech]

Surely, everyone have heard or read about Apple's new iPad. While I think it stills needs some work in some areas but I think the ultimately eReader is finally here. I'll be surprise at the price point of $500 that it doesn't start killing off netbooks and loads of wannabe ebook readers at launch.

Of course, I'll wait until I get one in my hands in March to have a proper assessment of the device and how it works as a eReader. Despite good sales record on Amazon's Kindle, it never had any appeal to me. Most eReaders up to this point are one-trick ponies that can only run in a straight line. iPad on the other hand will have countless possibilities.

iPad has a few great things working for it: 1) it'll be driven by apps 2) it'll be driven by people who truly understands the available technology 3) responsive touch screen can finally link the end user with what one is reading on screen 4) the ability to handle multimedia opens up the possibility for color college interactive ebook, otherwise not feasibility on Kindle or Nook or any current eReaders.

I have been in publishing for a long time. I have seen the days of B&W Apple SE. I have seen the days when designers work with rubber cement. We went from film to plate to DTP. We have come a long way. While I don't think publishing will die off completely, I do think iPad will be a huge game changer and slowly take a big chunk of business out of publishing. The only good thing publishing got going for it right now is that most content publishers still don't fully understand how-to manage their contents correctly using DAM and without being wasteful in the hopes of preparing for all things ebook or e-whatever. I'm watching my own company wasting precious human resources on putting contents into a a strict DAM system...it's frustrating, funny and sad all at the same time. It's like they have no vision of what is out there, they just know they are preparing for something new.

[Lukas Engqvist]

I remember seeing the release of the PhotoCD in late 80's or was it early 90's. The idea that photo's would be digital at all seemed to be sheer myth. That was about the same time we were toggling on and off the cache processors. And Desktop computers were backed up on floppies.
The PhotoCD as launched then has allready been and gone, what is definate is that photo's are digital, and seem unarguably that is the way it ought to be. It will be a milestone. iPhone did put it's mark on what we demand from a phone.

Processing, formating, editing, refining and validating information will be a growing need. Communication is in the core of humanity. So yes it does offer exciting possibilities.
At the same time we will see that some things will probably stay analouge. I think Direct mail is going to hit where any spam or banners can't. I see an increase in the number of catalouges as internet shops thrive. A hand written letter communicates that someone is personally taking time and energy to write, envelope and post rather than just e-mail.
Somehow we still need the tactile pages for things not to be so abstract.
The medium is part of the message.

[WiseGuy]

Tech,
You forgot one very important aspect about Apple and the iPad. Apple has distribution nailed! As eBooks move into iTunes and the content builds with them and others such as Amazon this will attract many new users. It will be interesting to see how this affects publishing over time. If we look at the music and video industry it's easy to assume, books will go digital too.

I remember about 15 years ago having a conversation with Frank Romano at one of the many crazy conferences that use to be around. We were talking about the affects of computers and PDF of all things on printed material such as books. Frank made an analogy that always stuck with me... his point had to do with the Bathroom test. "The day you can take it with you to the bathroom, then people will want to go digital". Or something to that affect. His point was print was portable. Take it with you on a bus, in the bathroom, toss it in your bag, go anywhere and access it anytime as long as you had light to read. Well... I guess we're past that point now and the eReaders and Tablets now make that possible AND make it possible to get new content just about anyplace you are.

It will be interesting to see where we are in 10 years.

[Tech]

Originally Posted by Lukas Engqvist

I remember seeing the release of the PhotoCD in late 80's or was it early 90's. The idea that photo's would be digital at all seemed to be sheer myth. That was about the same time we were toggling on and off the cache processors. And Desktop computers were backed up on floppies.
The PhotoCD as launched then has allready been and gone, what is definate is that photo's are digital, and seem unarguably that is the way it ought to be. It will be a milestone. iPhone did put it's mark on what we demand from a phone.

Processing, formating, editing, refining and validating information will be a growing need. Communication is in the core of humanity. So yes it does offer exciting possibilities.
At the same time we will see that some things will probably stay analouge. I think Direct mail is going to hit where any spam or banners can't. I see an increase in the number of catalouges as internet shops thrive. A hand written letter communicates that someone is personally taking time and energy to write, envelope and post rather than just e-mail.
Somehow we still need the tactile pages for things not to be so abstract.
The medium is part of the message.

The big arguments for print materials has always been one of two things: 1) content 2) tactile. If you break down how we use only sight and touch out of the five senses when it comes to reading. Print will lose someday, maybe not now, not tomorrow, but soon... as technology is becoming more versatile and allow us to interact with all of our five senses.

No digital device can replace tactile feel of a printed product, and the real question is, will anyone care when the total sum of their overall reading experience is far greater? Will people really miss holding newspapers that rubs ink on their fingers? Will anyone care if a leather ebook cover doesn't feel like it, yet the content is finally an interactive full-color multimedia in the palms of their hands?

[Tech]

Originally Posted by WiseGuy

Tech,
You forgot one very important aspect about Apple and the iPad. Apple has distribution nailed! As eBooks move into iTunes and the content builds with them and others such as Amazon this will attract many new users. It will be interesting to see how this affects publishing over time. If we look at the music and video industry it's easy to assume, books will go digital too.

I remember about 15 years ago having a conversation with Frank Romano at one of the many crazy conferences that use to be around. We were talking about the affects of computers and PDF of all things on printed material such as books. Frank made an analogy that always stuck with me... his point had to do with the Bathroom test. "The day you can take it with you to the bathroom, then people will want to go digital". Or something to that affect. His point was print was portable. Take it with you on a bus, in the bathroom, toss it in your bag, go anywhere and access it anytime as long as you had light to read. Well... I guess we're past that point now and the eReaders and Tablets now make that possible AND make it possible to get new content just about anyplace you are.

It will be interesting to see where we are in 10 years.

I agree and I like the bathroom test analogy (come to think of it, most current portable devices you can bring into a public bathroom but can you do it discreetly is a different question).

Portability plays a very vital role but so does the pricing of the device and available contents. I think Apple is smart enough to lock in deals with some of the biggest names in publishing and went with open source epub format. As I mention before, Apple will have to rely on smart app developers to fully exploit the capabilities of what Steve Jobs had envision for the device. I believe the man is well aware of that himself.

[gordo]

Originally Posted by Tech

The big arguments for print materials has always been one of two things: 1) content 2) tactile.

I think you miss two other even bigger arguments for print materials - permanence and accessibility.
For example, when Kodak bought Creo in 2005, I was part of a small group formed to produce a commemorative book - "A Story of Creo" It was a brutal experience because, being a "high tech" company, most of the archived material was in digital format, spread across, ZIP and Bernoulli drives, 3.5" optical disks, and buried in server farms. Much of it was inaccessible - just try and find a micro optical drive to read the disk - oh, and try and find a computer that you can attach a SCSI cable to so that you can attach that drive. Even if we could mount a ZIP disk we would likely receive an error message like, "This disk is unreadable or corrupt" or "This disk is not formatted for this operating system. Format disk?"

Bottom line - much of the history of the company was no longer accessible or no longer a useable record. An that was for data that was, at the time, only about 10 years old. So, for much of the resource material we ended up scanning photographs, books, and magazines that employees had tucked away in their closets.
And I don't think that it is realistic for all digital assets worldwide to be continuously rearchived every time some new OS, file format or storage system is released.

I own books that go back to 1810 that are still very readable. Do you really think that in 2210 any of the digital documents that have been created for today's ebooks will still be accessible? Somehow, I think not.

best, gordon p

Below - "Memories" illustrated by Jessie M King - TN Foulis Publishers, 1910



Below - "The Nav'vi" - James Cameron Publisher, 2154

[jbeniston]

I don't think that this device will be the end of publishing. It will find its niche and be absorbedi n to the general miasma of electronics users. When all the fuss is over and done with, people will still like to read a book or the newspaper. At least on the bus or subway or coffee shop you can read your newspaper and leave it on the seat for the next guy. Electronics are cool but they don't have and never will the feeling of a book or newspaper. People like tactile things and electronic devices just don't have it.
I don't want to read a book on an i.pad, however cool that might be. I want a real book. When I'm travelling by plane or train and when I'm tucked up in my hotel bed I'm not slightly interested in an i.pad. I, and I think millions of others, want a book, a real dyed in the wool book, with a cover and real pages I can turn. Nothing can beat them for portabiltiy, life cycle and guess what the batteries never die out.

[Alois Senefelder]

Hello Gentlemen,

A PDF that I hope will be of Interest and Value - but first a little digression !!!!

" And indeed there will be time
To wonder, "Do I dare? and, Do I dare?"
Time to turn back and descend the stair, with a bald spot in the middle of my hair ----
They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!"
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, my necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin --- Do I dare - Disturb the universe?

Poem by T. S. Eloit


Regards, Alois

[Ian Mackenzie]

....not just the technology.

While I certainly dont want to come across like I believe that digital delivery of media is over-hyped, I do want to get a firm grasp on how on-demand access meets out of pocket cash requirements.

So, if I understand the iPad (and like devices correctly), "I" would need the 3G version with some storage space.

That's the $699 version, not the $499 one.

I will also need a new provider plan from ATT - that's at least $30.00/mo. Maybe more.

That leaves me with $1,059 in first year out of pocket expense...but wait...I havent even ordered "content" yet.

I need the following:

New York Times - $12.95/mo.
Economist - $6.95/mo.
Sports Illustrated - $4.95/mo.

That's another $300.00/yr.
add that to my growing cable bill, my company cell phone bill, my kids and wife's cell phone bills, home internet, home phone bill.

That adds up to me - and I believe many others - to be digital dollars overload. OK, so I can dump the home phone soon, consolidate the cable bill, add the iPad to my compnay's Verizon plan when the exclusive deal with ATT runs out later this year.

But still, I believe that the "market is never wrong" and this digital offering, compelling as it is, will need to offer a more tangible cost savings for ME outside of the publisher's benefit of being able to constantly bombard me with concisely targeted socio-economically perfect ads.

[Tech]

All very good counter points and feedbacks.

@Gordo,
"permanence" is a very very interesting point. It's one thing to own and possess an antique but a complete animal of how much you actually get out of it. I still own some books from my youth and college days, but the reasons I kept them is more for nostalgic reasons than for it's contents. Content can be reproduced easily, you of all people on this forum should understand that very well. The "accessibility" point has already been mention via the "bathroom" analogy.

@jbeniston,
I already acknowledge iPad or whatever eReaders out there will never "kill" printing/publishing completely. It will no doubt take a big bite out of the industry slowly. How long that takes will depend on how successful iPad and it's near future upgrades (or it's competitors) will be.

@Alois
Your attached PDF article mentioned two things that makes very little sense, when was the last time you saw someone smelling a book or any printed material for that matter? When was the last time, someone mention to you they love the sounds of pages flipping (assuming they even noticed)? The latter, can easily be reproduced easily via sound recording and be embedded into multimedia ebooks.

@Ian
For a long time, I'm a skeptic like you with all things digital. Look no further and see how far we have come with usages of personal computers. My brothers and I shared our first 286x computer in the late '80s when our parents paid a heavy price for it. At the time, we had no idea how much $$$ that was. We were only excited to play "computer" games on it.

The fact is, cost over time always reduces with each newer generation of devices. iPad will be no exception. BTW, unless you are on the go 24/7, you don't need 3G. With a little effort, Wifi model should get you plenty of access points.

--------------------------------

BTW, I like this kind of open discussion and feedbacks. I think we are on to something and learning something about ourselves at the same time.

Muchas gracias,
Tech