Media Vent
By Bob Sacks
About Bob
Bob Sacks (aka BoSacks) is a printing/publishing industry consultant and president of The Precision Media Group (BoSacks.com). He is also the co-founder of the research company Media-Ideas (Media-Ideas.net), and publisher and editor of a daily international e-newsletter, Heard on the Web. Sacks has held posts as director of manufacturing and distribution, senior sales manager (paper), chief of operations, pressman, circulator and almost every other job this industry has to offer.
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BoSacks Speaks Out: on Digital Editions, E-readers and the Apple Rumor Mill
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This week I would like to pontificate on digital magazine editions. Those funny flip readers that a few years ago were just curiosities and now are deeply embedded in the very future of our business. Have you seen the reports that 15 percent of all circulation in the b-to-b market is comprised by digital editions? And that 15 percent is rising rapidly. Digital Editions are a curiosity no longer.
Very soon the hardware is going to catch up with the software and we will have an 8-by-10-inch e-reader to match the versatility and robust nature of the digital magazine edition. It is rumored that the Kindle is coming out with a full-sized e-reader by the holiday season.
But the bigger rumor I'm salivating over is the full-sized Apple iTouch. If that is indeed a fact and not a rumor, it is a watershed moment in the annals of publishing. Mark my words here and now: If Apple comes out with a full-sized, full-color iTouch (that doubles as an e-reader), the publishing universe will change on that very day, in that very moment. That will bring to full prominence for the magazine industry the age of the digital edition. Are you ready for that? Is your company poised for this inevitability?
And let's remember that the iTouch is not e-paper. There are, in fact, many new devices just hovering in the wings that are iTouch-like but an easier-to-read, e-paper platform instead. This, my friends, is just the beginning.
At the end of the day for those that are prepared, we are heading into the next golden age of publishing. Are you coming along for the ride?
Very soon the hardware is going to catch up with the software and we will have an 8-by-10-inch e-reader to match the versatility and robust nature of the digital magazine edition. It is rumored that the Kindle is coming out with a full-sized e-reader by the holiday season.
But the bigger rumor I'm salivating over is the full-sized Apple iTouch. If that is indeed a fact and not a rumor, it is a watershed moment in the annals of publishing. Mark my words here and now: If Apple comes out with a full-sized, full-color iTouch (that doubles as an e-reader), the publishing universe will change on that very day, in that very moment. That will bring to full prominence for the magazine industry the age of the digital edition. Are you ready for that? Is your company poised for this inevitability?
And let's remember that the iTouch is not e-paper. There are, in fact, many new devices just hovering in the wings that are iTouch-like but an easier-to-read, e-paper platform instead. This, my friends, is just the beginning.
At the end of the day for those that are prepared, we are heading into the next golden age of publishing. Are you coming along for the ride?
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COMMENTS
Click here to leave a comment...
Most Recent Comments:
Timothy Miller - Posted on April 17, 2009
I agree, have you ever tried to read a digital magazine on a laptop sitting next to the pool in the sun? Impossible. The digital format will never replace the experience of reading a good book under a tree outside or a magazine poolside, in a park or on a beach.
I agree, have you ever tried to read a digital magazine on a laptop sitting next to the pool in the sun? Impossible. The digital format will never replace the experience of reading a good book under a tree outside or a magazine poolside, in a park or on a beach.
Naiden Stoyanov - Posted on April 17, 2009
I agree that digital editions will somehow have a future in the publishing industry, but disagree why they've been growing.
While the online medium will be instrumental in the future of magazine publishing, digital editions are nothing more than a lame attempt to move print design to the digital world. There's a reason why web sites look differently than the print media. The screen is not and will never be paper. Flipping through the pages is not the same as clicking on a link. The ability to interact is yet another difference. Ask any good designer and they will tell you that digital and print design are two completely different things!
Yes, it looks like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and signing up for one of the many digital magazine companies that are springing up like mushrooms after rain. But that's not because of increased digital edition readership (unless you consider an increase to be anything going from zero to anything else, usually single or double digits). It's because publishers are desperately trying to stay ahead of the curve and anything that sounds new and hip is accepted as the holly grail of publishing.
A screen is a screen. It will never be paper. Even if they make it as thin as paper. I am not saying that one is better than the other, but they are complementary and not replacements for one another.
I am talking from the point of experience. We, at Canaiden LLC, have been successful in both our print and online properties, because we have different teams working on digital and print solutions as separate projects. What works in print doesn’t necessarily work online and vice versa. The same goes for the monetization part of it, which I think is really the biggest challenge we all face and not the output solution that may or may not be accepted.
I agree that digital editions will somehow have a future in the publishing industry, but disagree why they've been growing.
While the online medium will be instrumental in the future of magazine publishing, digital editions are nothing more than a lame attempt to move print design to the digital world. There's a reason why web sites look differently than the print media. The screen is not and will never be paper. Flipping through the pages is not the same as clicking on a link. The ability to interact is yet another difference. Ask any good designer and they will tell you that digital and print design are two completely different things!
Yes, it looks like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and signing up for one of the many digital magazine companies that are springing up like mushrooms after rain. But that's not because of increased digital edition readership (unless you consider an increase to be anything going from zero to anything else, usually single or double digits). It's because publishers are desperately trying to stay ahead of the curve and anything that sounds new and hip is accepted as the holly grail of publishing.
A screen is a screen. It will never be paper. Even if they make it as thin as paper. I am not saying that one is better than the other, but they are complementary and not replacements for one another.
I am talking from the point of experience. We, at Canaiden LLC, have been successful in both our print and online properties, because we have different teams working on digital and print solutions as separate projects. What works in print doesn’t necessarily work online and vice versa. The same goes for the monetization part of it, which I think is really the biggest challenge we all face and not the output solution that may or may not be accepted.
JF - Posted on April 17, 2009
I really don't see the demand for consumer publications in digital format. Why try to force the format of a magazine online instead of adopting what online readers are already used to; in the form of feature articles on a website (as seen on any news site such as msn.com). For trade publications, that's a different story. I do see individuals reading trade publications online while at their place of business. If there is a demand for digitized consumer magazines, then Google's Book Search is one way for consumer publications to digitize their content while improving SEO (as result of the content being searchable) and profit from Google advertising served next to the content. I'm a Motor Trend reader and mark my words...I will never replace my printed publication with a digitized version. If I want to look at car images online, I go to Google images and then read more about the specific car. Otherwise, receiving this publication in the mail is the best thing that comes in my mail every month and reading it on my porch in the sun, cannot be beat by any e-reader. Just my two cents.
I really don't see the demand for consumer publications in digital format. Why try to force the format of a magazine online instead of adopting what online readers are already used to; in the form of feature articles on a website (as seen on any news site such as msn.com). For trade publications, that's a different story. I do see individuals reading trade publications online while at their place of business. If there is a demand for digitized consumer magazines, then Google's Book Search is one way for consumer publications to digitize their content while improving SEO (as result of the content being searchable) and profit from Google advertising served next to the content. I'm a Motor Trend reader and mark my words...I will never replace my printed publication with a digitized version. If I want to look at car images online, I go to Google images and then read more about the specific car. Otherwise, receiving this publication in the mail is the best thing that comes in my mail every month and reading it on my porch in the sun, cannot be beat by any e-reader. Just my two cents.
Click here to view archived comments...
Archived Comments:
Timothy Miller - Posted on April 17, 2009
I agree, have you ever tried to read a digital magazine on a laptop sitting next to the pool in the sun? Impossible. The digital format will never replace the experience of reading a good book under a tree outside or a magazine poolside, in a park or on a beach.
I agree, have you ever tried to read a digital magazine on a laptop sitting next to the pool in the sun? Impossible. The digital format will never replace the experience of reading a good book under a tree outside or a magazine poolside, in a park or on a beach.
Naiden Stoyanov - Posted on April 17, 2009
I agree that digital editions will somehow have a future in the publishing industry, but disagree why they've been growing.
While the online medium will be instrumental in the future of magazine publishing, digital editions are nothing more than a lame attempt to move print design to the digital world. There's a reason why web sites look differently than the print media. The screen is not and will never be paper. Flipping through the pages is not the same as clicking on a link. The ability to interact is yet another difference. Ask any good designer and they will tell you that digital and print design are two completely different things!
Yes, it looks like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and signing up for one of the many digital magazine companies that are springing up like mushrooms after rain. But that's not because of increased digital edition readership (unless you consider an increase to be anything going from zero to anything else, usually single or double digits). It's because publishers are desperately trying to stay ahead of the curve and anything that sounds new and hip is accepted as the holly grail of publishing.
A screen is a screen. It will never be paper. Even if they make it as thin as paper. I am not saying that one is better than the other, but they are complementary and not replacements for one another.
I am talking from the point of experience. We, at Canaiden LLC, have been successful in both our print and online properties, because we have different teams working on digital and print solutions as separate projects. What works in print doesn’t necessarily work online and vice versa. The same goes for the monetization part of it, which I think is really the biggest challenge we all face and not the output solution that may or may not be accepted.
I agree that digital editions will somehow have a future in the publishing industry, but disagree why they've been growing.
While the online medium will be instrumental in the future of magazine publishing, digital editions are nothing more than a lame attempt to move print design to the digital world. There's a reason why web sites look differently than the print media. The screen is not and will never be paper. Flipping through the pages is not the same as clicking on a link. The ability to interact is yet another difference. Ask any good designer and they will tell you that digital and print design are two completely different things!
Yes, it looks like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and signing up for one of the many digital magazine companies that are springing up like mushrooms after rain. But that's not because of increased digital edition readership (unless you consider an increase to be anything going from zero to anything else, usually single or double digits). It's because publishers are desperately trying to stay ahead of the curve and anything that sounds new and hip is accepted as the holly grail of publishing.
A screen is a screen. It will never be paper. Even if they make it as thin as paper. I am not saying that one is better than the other, but they are complementary and not replacements for one another.
I am talking from the point of experience. We, at Canaiden LLC, have been successful in both our print and online properties, because we have different teams working on digital and print solutions as separate projects. What works in print doesn’t necessarily work online and vice versa. The same goes for the monetization part of it, which I think is really the biggest challenge we all face and not the output solution that may or may not be accepted.
JF - Posted on April 17, 2009
I really don't see the demand for consumer publications in digital format. Why try to force the format of a magazine online instead of adopting what online readers are already used to; in the form of feature articles on a website (as seen on any news site such as msn.com). For trade publications, that's a different story. I do see individuals reading trade publications online while at their place of business. If there is a demand for digitized consumer magazines, then Google's Book Search is one way for consumer publications to digitize their content while improving SEO (as result of the content being searchable) and profit from Google advertising served next to the content. I'm a Motor Trend reader and mark my words...I will never replace my printed publication with a digitized version. If I want to look at car images online, I go to Google images and then read more about the specific car. Otherwise, receiving this publication in the mail is the best thing that comes in my mail every month and reading it on my porch in the sun, cannot be beat by any e-reader. Just my two cents.
I really don't see the demand for consumer publications in digital format. Why try to force the format of a magazine online instead of adopting what online readers are already used to; in the form of feature articles on a website (as seen on any news site such as msn.com). For trade publications, that's a different story. I do see individuals reading trade publications online while at their place of business. If there is a demand for digitized consumer magazines, then Google's Book Search is one way for consumer publications to digitize their content while improving SEO (as result of the content being searchable) and profit from Google advertising served next to the content. I'm a Motor Trend reader and mark my words...I will never replace my printed publication with a digitized version. If I want to look at car images online, I go to Google images and then read more about the specific car. Otherwise, receiving this publication in the mail is the best thing that comes in my mail every month and reading it on my porch in the sun, cannot be beat by any e-reader. Just my two cents.
