As you’ve no doubt heard from a slew of other, far more reputable news sources, Apple yesterday announced the release of the iPad; a portable, full colour tablet device which on the face of it, looks like it’s going to shake up not just the computing industry but TV, gaming and publishing as well.
As the New York Observer reported late last year, Time Inc., Conde Nast and Hearst have all signed a deal to sell digital mags in a kind of iTunes for magazines and books and which Apple revealed yesterday will be called, you guessed it, iBooks.
Are we worried? Actually, not a bit.
We’re obliged, of course, to carry the Time and Newsweeks of this world but they are by no means our bread and butter. A vast and overwhelming proportion of our sales are for small-run, collectible, niche titles like Sneaker Freaker, Lula, Purple Fashion, Self Service and Dumbo feather… that is, beautiful tactile printed objects.
Which is to say that most of the magazines we sell are not than the kind of throwaway newsprint titles that this device may end up replacing.
More than anyone, we’re aware of how wasteful the magazine industry is; every week we send back hundreds of unsold magazines to our distributors where they’ll be pulped. This kind of slash and burn approach is at best unsustainable and at worst, completely wasteful and absurd in the year 2010. (I mean, this is meant to be ‘the future’, right? If we’d had our way, the iPad would have surfaced closer to 2001 along with jetpacks, ray-guns and teleportation devices.)
We hope that the arrival of a portable reading device such as the iPad will stamp out a huge proportion of the unnecessary waste created by the publishing industry, but by no means we do we see it spelling the end of the magazine format as we know it.
Just as sales of vinyl LPs continue to steadily rise in the face of downloads and (dwindling) CD sales, we see a promising future for niche printed media and we look forward to being a part of that for years to come.
Fittingly, London based Newspaper Club goes into public beta today. These guys are set to launch on-demand newspaper printing for individuals and groups wanting to print as few as five newsprint papers or as many as five thousand for a comparable per unit price.
I think in some ways people will return to good old magazines, because you some how cant beat the feel of a tactile printed book or magazine. Its also something you can keep forever and there is something so nice about it. ( I suppose it is more useful for the more consumer mags that ppl will throw away and are wasteful) If the iPad could kill magazines, than wouldn’t the internet have done it already?
Society is too nostalgic to let the old stuff die out.
p.s you can donate all left over mags to me, i will lovingly cherish them, unlike the pulb machine. haha
Magazines are great. I am paying $19 for each issue of WIRED from US, airmailed to me. I love few magazines.
But problem with magazines is not that people will stop reading them. Problem is pure business strategy – printing is not as profitable any more. Look at trading post. We all love it. But just could not compete with online classifieds. Unfortunately that is where media is going. Yes, niche publications will survive due to number of devoted followers. All others – get real or go home. Times Inc lost 26% in ad sales last year. Strategy from their CEO? Double down on digital. It’s pure business and profit game.
I do welcome iPad and other e-readers as they are great tools. But still my mobile bring quick news too. And I can’t read iPad in bath or use it after to wash windows. Most of the magazines and newspapers will distinct in the next 5 years. iPad will become waterproof, flexible and resistant on scratches and damages. And I will have to buy Swedish magic cloth for windows. It’s called evolution…
Enjoy that sound of paper under your finger tips… And remember that you read this comment online, not in the magazine
p.s. did u check GQ iPhone app – very close to full magazine feeling + interactive and cheaper.
The Ipad looks like fun to play with, but I doubt if you can really work with it? But many people will buy it because of it look.
Apple do great things with the iPad, so that other companies try to make the same product. What is clear, I really like my iPad.