That Was Fast: News Corp's Just Launched iPad-Only Publication Losing Journalists

from the into-the-lifeboats dept

We had warned from early on that News Corp's "iPad-only" fee-based publication, The Daily, was a disaster in the making. After a ton of hype, and launching a few weeks ago to a ton of overwrought praise, all we've been hearing is that people aren't buying. A bunch of folks checked it out early, and then it more or less disappeared off the map. And now, it appears that staffers are bailing at a rapid rate. Of course, in the run up to launch, there was all this talk about how Murdoch was hiring a ton of big name journalists and staffers away from other publications. To see a bunch of them rushing out the door, barely weeks after the launch, suggests this may be a failure of epic proportions.

Filed Under: ipad, paywalls, platforms, the daily
Companies: news corp.

Apple Trying To Run All Content Sales Through Its Own Sales System

from the that-might-not-go-over-so-well dept

Apple continues to make the iPhone/iPad app platform as obsessively controlled as possible. The latest are reports that Apple is starting to block other apps that sell content within their apps -- i.e., no more Kindle purchases on your iPad. The story is that Apple now wants all such purchases to go through Apple's cash register, so it gets a cut. Of course, that just seems like another opportunity for folks to seek out alternative solutions, such as via web apps, which Apple can't block. This seems like the sort of move that could backfire on Apple. It's no secret that the company likes to control such things, and to force everything through its own gateway and payment systems (where it gets to take a cut), but if it keeps doing things like that it's going to piss off an awful lot of potentially useful partners.

Filed Under: apps, content, ipad, iphone, itunes, point of sales
Companies: apple

As Predicted: iPad Magazine Subscriber Numbers Plummeting

from the gee,-who-woulda-thunk-it dept

Right before the iPad launched, we warned media companies that expected iPad apps to be their savior that they were making a mistake. Specifically, it seemed that this was all wishful thinking from publishers, who were hoping to go back to a gated system that they had used for many years. They were betting on restrictions, which is never a good bet. Of course, the early numbers actually sounded good, with many magazines trumpeting how many iPad subscribers they got in the first few months. But, it appears that many people tested out iPad magazines, and then decided they just weren't worth it. Again, this is not a huge surprise. Just a few weeks ago, we again discussed how iPad magazines generally suck, and it was unlikely they were going to have lasting success.

Even so, it's still surprising to see just how dramatic the dropoff has been -- especially in a platform that is apparently still selling like hotcakes. Wired Magazine, which initially appeared to drink the Kool-Aid big time on using iPad apps, now sees less than a quarter the number of buyers that it had when it put out its first iPad issue. Vanity Fair, Glamour, GQ and some others have all seen big declines.

Hopefully this will kill off the dream of just recreating magazines for the iPad, and content providers can focus on creating tools that are actually useful, rather than just on replicating the structure of a magazine in a digital format.

Filed Under: ipad, magazines, media, savior, subscriptions

France Wants To Extend Private Copying Levy To Tablets... But Not If They Run Microsoft Windows

from the say-what-now? dept

Kurata points us to the news that French politicians are debating extending the "you must be a criminal" private copying levy to tablet computers -- but, oddly, the new levy would not apply to tablets running Windows (Google translation from the original French). The tax would apply to any iPad or Android-based device, but apparently Windows tablets won't be counted, since they'll be classified as full computers, while the other tablets are in this new taxable category. Not surprisingly, this has some companies up in arms, with the French-based Archos particularly steamed, since it's producing Android-based tablets, and doesn't like the fact that its government seems to be giving preferential treatment to an American company.

Filed Under: android, copyright, france, ipad, private copying levies, tablets, windows
Companies: archos, microsoft

Why Murdoch's iPad-Only Newspaper Misses The Point

from the leaves-out-interaction dept

There's been lots of talk about how News Corp. is developing an iPad-only newspaper called "The Daily," but the more I read about it, the less sense it makes. The general thinking behind it seems to come from the same reasoning which explains why so many iPad publisher apps are so bad. They're approaching it as a way to bring back the old scarcities, which are now artificial scarcities. They're looking at the platform as a savior based on what it does not allow, rather than based on what it actually enables.

Creating a platform specific publication in a day and age when platforms have less and less meaning seems like a recipe for disaster. It's based on the idea that the Murdochs want to go back to an age of control, rather than embracing the age of enablement.

Filed Under: ipad, james murdoch, journalism, magazines, rupert murdoch, tablets
Companies: news corp.

Why iPad Magazine Apps Suck: They're Defined By The Past, Not The Future

from the paperless-magazines dept

Earlier this year, we suggested that the media industy's infatuation with the iPad as some sort of savior was going to result in serious disappointment. Part of the reason was that the media industry was salivating over the false belief that it could bring back the old "gatekeeper" control that it used to have, and which its old business model was built from. And, indeed, the early results of iPad magazines aren't particularly promising. Now, it's still quite early, and two things are likely to happen: tablet computers (and better smartphones) will become more popular and publishers will become smarter about these things over time. So I wouldn't read too much into the success/failure numbers at this stage.

However, I tend to agree with this analysis by Khoi Vinh that suggests a major problem is that magazine publishers are focused on building apps that are too much like "magazines," which is not how people want to use their mobile devices:

My opinion about iPad-based magazines is that they run counter to how people use tablets today and, unless something changes, will remain at odds with the way people will use tablets as the medium matures. They're bloated, user-unfriendly and map to a tired pattern of mass media brands trying vainly to establish beachheads on new platforms without really understanding the platforms at all.

The fact of the matter is that the mode of reading that a magazine represents is a mode that people are decreasingly interested in, that is making less and less sense as we forge further into this century, and that makes almost no sense on a tablet. As usual, these publishers require users to dive into environments that only negligibly acknowledge the world outside of their brand, if at all -- a problem that's abetted and exacerbated by the full-screen, single-window posture of all iPad software. In a media world that looks increasingly like the busy downtown heart of a city -- with innumerable activities, events and alternative sources of distraction around you -- these apps demand that you confine yourself to a remote, suburban cul-de-sac.

To be honest, this isn't that surprising. The problem, as with almost all new media technologies is that those who came from the earlier media worlds try to define the new world in terms of the old. It's why original TV programs simply tried to replicate radio programs, until people realized that you could do something quite different in a visual medium. It's why many media companies still look at the internet as a broadcast medium designed for delivering its content to the masses -- rather than recognizing that the real power is in its use as a communications platform.

Eventually they'll adjust and figure it out (or, if they don't, go out of business). And then the solutions that work won't be "magazines as an app," but services that really make use of what these devices enable: communication and content on the go.

Filed Under: apps, ipad, magazines

Uh, No, Using An iPad On A Flight Won't Get You On The No-Fly List

from the nor-will-being-a-jackass dept

A bunch of folks have passed around this story from Jalopnik entitled How An iPad Got A Guy Placed On The No-Fly List. Of course, I would bet that almost nothing in the title of that story is actually true. First of all, if you read the details, the iPad only played a minor role. Basically, as the plane was getting ready for takeoff, the guy was trying to use his iPad, and when flight attendants told him to turn it off, he talked back to them a bit, and didn't actually turn it off the first time (but did so later). That's about it for the iPad. Then apparently he just became a jerk to the various flight attendants, demanding alcohol and being a general nuisance on the rest of the flight, which apparently resulted in the airline having the airport police meet him upon arrival. So, what's the "no fly" list got to do with it? Basically, the Jalopnik author was told by a flight attendant that the guy has been put on the no fly list, but there's absolutely no evidence to back that up. While the whole no fly list is of questionable legality, and ridiculously managed, I've seen absolutely nothing that suggests that being a jackass on a flight can possibly get you onto the no fly list. And, even if this guy got in trouble, it was for being a jackass, not for using his iPad.

Filed Under: flying, ipad, no-fly

China's Main Newspaper Complains That The iPad Is Too Damn Legal

from the they-have-a-point dept

China is often accused of ignoring intellectual property, though, as we've noted, lately it's been embracing intellectual property laws, mainly to smack down foreign competitors. The country has been trying to show the world that it's taking these matters seriously, and I'm sure there was plenty of conversation about this when Eric Holder met with officials in Beijing, following his recent blatantly intellectually dishonest speech about intellectual property issues.

So, given all of that, it seems a bit strange that The People's Daily newspaper, which is the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, recently put up a review of Apple's iPad that complained about the fact that it couldn't be used for unauthorized material:

"There are many disadvantages" to the gadgets, it wrote. "For example you cannot install pirate software on them, you cannot download [free] music, and you need to pay for movies you watch on them."

Now, while some might find this a bit surprising, it should be remembered that, in China, it's possible to also get unauthorized devices that build off of other company's gadgets to create something more powerful, and actually open for such uses. So while such a complaint may seem strange at first, when you realize that all they're really saying is that "we know how much more powerful this device should be, and it's a shame that it's locked down, because that takes away much of its value."

Filed Under: china, copyright, ipad, piracy

Apple Accused Of Demanding Newsday Drop Its iPad App Ad

from the uh,-why? dept

This one's just bizarre, but the story is making the rounds that Apple threatened to takedown Newsday's apps if Newsday didn't kill the following commercial that's been making the rounds: The commercial is marginally funny, but it makes no sense why Apple would get so upset about it. Apparently, the reason given so far is that the company doesn't like that the glass is shown shattering into large jagged pieces -- but it's not like that's going to cause people to go try to recreate the situation in the commercial. And, if the rumor is true, threatening to remove Newday's apps from the app store is just petty (which, it should be admitted, Apple seems to have no problem with). Of course, the end result of all this -- yet again -- is that more and more people are viewing the ad. And even I don't think Apple is so crafty as to issue the takedown just to get the ad more attention.

Filed Under: ads, apps, ipad
Companies: apple, newsday