Publishing's last hope
Commentary: Old media is expecting too much from the iPad — BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Print media seem to be pinning a lot of hopes on the iPad. — In addition to creating a fantastic media promotional blitz to jack up the public for the iPad …
Context & Ripple Effects
This column lands two days before the iPad ships, closing a year-old argument about whether hardware can rescue print. The New York Times framed it in May 2009 when it looked to big-screen e-readers as the daily press's savior, and the device Apple is about to release was widely read as that screen finally arriving.
The skeptic case has a concrete counterweight already in market: days earlier, VentureBeat reported self-published e-books reaching the iPad at almost no cost, meaning the same device that legacy publishers treat as their rescue also lowers the gate for writers who need none of their infrastructure. MarketWatch's argument — that Apple's promotional blitz has been mistaken by print media for a business model — is the contrarian note in that chorus.
First-order effects
- Publishers launching iPad editions alongside the device commit to app-store distribution from day one, accepting whatever revenue split and customer-relationship terms Apple sets rather than negotiating from leverage.
- Self-published authors gain a near-zero-cost path onto the same shelf as legacy titles, undercutting the assumption that iPad readership flows automatically to established brands.
Second-order effects
- If paid magazine and newspaper apps underperform expectations, publishers will have to fight over subscription billing and pricing mechanics with Apple — a platform owner that also sells competing media through iTunes.
- Free and cheap indie titles pressure the price ceiling for professional content on the device, forcing legacy publishers to justify premiums on brand or bundling alone.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, publishing's economics shift from controlling the format (print) to renting access to readers through someone else's storefront, with recurring friction between publishers and platform owners over data and billing becoming the industry's defining negotiation.
The trend: Print media's survival strategy is migrating from owning distribution to licensing it from device makers, with each new screen resetting who holds the customer relationship.