Subtle hints at Apple’s tablet ecosystem and the future of print media
October 19th, 2009 § 1 Comment
Last week, Apple made a policy revision to the App Store that will now allow developers to sell additional content through free apps. This change may seem subtle to the casual observer, but as Brian Chen of Wired points out, this seemingly minor change actually points the way to Apple’s broader potential to save the newspaper and publishing industries:
Picture a free magazine app that offers one sample issue and the ability to purchase future issues afterward. Or a newspaper app that only displays text articles with pictures, but paying a fee within the app unlocks an entire new digital experience packed with music and video. This is an example of the “freemium” model that Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson explains in his book Free . . . It’s plausible to imagine that a freemium strategy would be much more effective through a tablet app than a website. If the tablet is indeed designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, as insiders have described it, then publishers developing apps will be able to take advantage of features such as the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch to innovate the way they engage with their audience — and, ultimately, persuade them to pay.
As I’ve said in the past, freemium and content convergence are Apple’s doorways into redefining the print industry while simultaneously giving the tablet form factor a unique place in people’s lives (well beyond what the Kindle and Sony Reader have achieved). This is another great example of Apple’s platform thinking at work — they are poised to create new economics for the newspaper and print industries through a retail, distribution, and hardware ecosystem. Such an ecosystem certainly makes Microsoft’s Courier tablet demo look like a lonely piece of hardware.
But this much is obvious.
What has yet to be seen is whether newspapers and publishers can complete the picture with innovative content partnerships and build sustainable business models for the tablet ecosystem. Simply going the route of the Dallas Morning News and Amazon revenue-sharing model will be unsustainable for newspapers. Remember what James Moroney, publisher of the Dallas Morning News said in his testimony to Congress about the fate of the newspaper industry (quoted by Malcolm Gladwell in his review of Chris Anderson’s Free):
They [Amazon] want seventy per cent of the subscription revenue, I get thirty per cent, they get seventy per cent. On top of that, they have said we get the right to republish your intellectual property to any portable device.
And herein lies the most difficult part of getting this right. With music and film, Apple’s iTunes created a new marketplace and service ecosystem around content that is in ever-increasing demand. That is to say, music and movies didn’t have to be reinvented to develop the iTunes experience — they just needed to be digitally rendered, distributed and delivered. But in the case of newspapers and publishers, the experience needs to be entirely re-imagined before people are willing to pay a premium.
Otherwise, we’ll just continue to consume the smorgasbord of free content at our fingertips.
Microsoft reinvents the Trapper Keeper with Courier
September 23rd, 2009 § 1 Comment
The fanboy web is abuzz with the above conceptual video that demonstrates Microsoft’s proposed Courier in action. The Courier is a notebook-style tablet computer with gesture and handwriting recognition that uses the familiar activities of paper-based note-taking and scrap-booking as metaphors for how one would use the device. With all the speculation surrounding the forthcoming Apple tablet, some have suggested that Courier is a reminder that we shouldn’t take our eyes off Microsoft’s secretive work in the sub-laptop arena. But aside from the very well-produced concept mockup demonstrated here, what fascinates me about Courier is that it is built on a very different design metaphor compared to supposed mockups of the Apple tablet. That is to say, Courier emulates using a notebook . . . or dayplanner . . . or Trapper Keeper.
But is this the right design metaphor?
One could argue that this is the perfect blend of the familiar and the new that could open up a new category of mobile computing. But on the other hand, this could be limiting. Where the Courier demo excels at demonstrating the device’s exceptional on-the-fly note-taking and inspiration-gathering capabilities, it seems ill-fitted for media consumption. I can’t imagine using the device for entertainment content.
And herein lies a clear indication of how Apple and Microsoft will compete in the sub-laptop arena: Apple’s tablet will likely major in entertainment (no duh) while Microsoft will stake out mobile business and academic utility.
Stay tuned to see how this plays out. For now, I’ll take one of each.
Content convergence and the Apple tablet
July 27th, 2009 § 3 Comments
Yesterday’s Financial Times featured an article about Apple’s long-rumored tablet computer. There’s certainly no shortage of speculation about what an Apple tablet might look like and how it might function. But what I found particularly interesting was FT’s reference to Project Cocktail, Apple’s enhanced content negotiations with record companies:
The entertainment industry is hoping that Apple, which revolutionised the markets for music players and for phones, can do it again. “It’s a portable entertainment device,” said one entertainment executive. “It’s going to be fabulous for watching movies.” Recording industry executives said Apple planned to use the larger screen to offer new services such as interactive booklets and liner notes that come along with purchases of entire music CDs.
It seems Apple’s forthcoming tablet (along with the next evolution of iTunes) could foster a revolution of unprecedented content convergence. The embattled music industry seems poised to jump on this opportunity, and publishers could also have much to gain for jumping on board. With a proposed 10-inch full-color screen, gesture recognition, and full Internet connectivity, the tablet will undoubtedly be a Kindle on steroids. But that’s only part of the story.
Whereas the iPhone revolutionized what a phone can do, Apple’s tablet could revolutionize what content can do.
If Apple gets this service ecosystem right, partnerships between developers and content providers could usher in a new tide of tablet apps that blur the lines between eBooks, music, film, games, and social media. This may be too little, too late for the vast majority of newspapers, but it is encouraging to consider Apple’s forthcoming tablet as a generative platform for new business models for musicians and writers. Especially when you watch Chris Anderson struggle to offer Charlie Rose anything beyond advertising-supported and basic freemium schemes as solutions to the woes of newspapers and publishers:
