Jann Wenner: iPad Magazines a Bad Move for Publishers, article.
"Mr. Wenner thinks the digital magazine market is still too small, and he offered up the Popular Science iPad magazine app as an example. “It’s selling 16,000 on a million-plus rate base, it’s like nothing,” he said.
The transition to ubiquitous digital magazines will be some time coming, too, he thinks. “Who knows how far down the road — years though and possibly decades,” he said.
Decades? OK, *really* ubiquitous *could* take more than ten years. But publishers are really caught between two hard places: while digital mags aren't profitable yet, paper prices, printing prices, and distribution costs have been rising and rising for decades and ads sales falling, does he have any reason to think those trends will reverse? I think not. I think while the jump to the shore may be a long one right now, the boat is not getting any closer from now on.
4 comments:
I don't understand why can't they have both. Keep producing the deadtree until the digital becomes profitable.
That's just what I was thinking. Wenner makes it sound like the moment you start a digital edition, you sacrifice your paper edition.
I much prefer the digital copy on my Xoom. I carry it with me, I can download them instantly, and I'm not bombarded with cologne and subscription pull outs. I never thought I'd like them as much, but I do. I just wish all my mags were on electrons.
Me too.
I think they'll come fully to their right when we have future "super-tablets" with bigger screens but no more weight.
Post a Comment