Fierce Debate Over Whether the iPad Will Save Print Publishers

With all of the excitement around Apple's iPad and its potential as a game-changer for print publishers, several reports have caught my attention recently.

First, some good news: Magazine websites have been experiencing strong growth over the past year. According to Digital Media Boxscores, some 120 magazine sites grew 20 to 30 percent in both page views and unique visitors in January 2010, compared to the same month a year earlier.

Titles whose sites performed especially well included Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazaar, Esquire, Martha Stewart, Budget Travel, and Women's Health.

Just like the iPad, magazines are mobile devices. Thus, unlike the relationship between print publications and desktop computers, there would seem to be a natural synergy with the iPad.

But a number of blogger/analysts have raised questions, to put it mildly. about how much magazine publishers will benefit from the introduction of Apple's revolutionary new device.

"The iPad-will-save-our-asses craze is based on a single, flawed premise, argues Henry Blodget. (That) consumers want to read magazines and newspapers electronically the same way they have read them for centuries in print -- in a tightly bound content package produced by a single publisher.  But 15 years of Internet history suggests that they don't.

"To the consumer, the Internet is one vast publication.  No longer are consumers limited to the particular editorial tastes and packaging of a few publishers whose "books" they subscribe to.  Now, consumers can snack on content from thousands of publishers, for free, all day long.  And the iPad is not going to change that."

In a similar vein, Constantine von Hoffmanargues that the iPad will prove to be a far better platform for video and audio than for print. Of course that does not necessarily exclude today's print publishers from the party.

After all, Newsonomics reports that “The New York Times is now producing 100 videos a month.”

The Times itself has reported that lots of major advertisers are already expressing interest in the iPad, so despite all the naysayers, the media industry's excitement would seem to me to be well-placed.


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DW in the Press:

My recent appearance on KQED-FM's "California Report" discussing the controversy surrounding Google's decision to stop censoring search results in China. I was interviewed by Sarah Varney. The audio reported can be accessed here.