Here we are at one of those rare perfect storms that will be a major turning point for periodicals and newspapers. Everything changes in the next 12 months – five times faster than it took the music industry to come to grips with the iTunes model and a new world order.
Events are lining up to enable this to happen quickly. eReaders have good display fidelity and robust features. Automatic wireless content distribution is easily and cost effectively available. And spending on advertising has moved away from print and publishers who now have no choice but to re-innovate around a new lower cost model – – or just disappear.
PREDICTION. In 2010 we will see the first mass shift away from print delivery to newspapers and periodicals delivered directly to eReader tablets. By 2011 the trend will be well developed with over 100 million electronic issues sent directly to eReaders for consumption. Take a look at what Sports Illustrated has up their sleeve for this new medium and why I think the market is at a tipping point:
eREADERS THAT MATTER.
– Plastic Logic – eliminates briefcase clutter with an industrial strength product
– Amazon Kindle – Amazon wants to sell books faster and with less cost
– Apple – a late entrant will outflank everyone because of the iTunes franchise.
ADOBE AIR POWERED CONTENT:
Where the action will be once the eReader hardware market sorts out (12 months for B&W, 36 months from now for color). Publishers will compete on the sizzle factor of repurposing their content into innovative and new types of delivery formats. Adobe AIR, a publishing platform and protocol, has a huge head start. Take a look at how the New York Times works with Adobe AIR:
This is a fundamentally important technology trend and one to keep a close watch on. Make sure you are an early adopter, get an eReader as soon as you can, and cancel all your paper format subscriptions. Remember, when was the last time your kids bought a CD ?
-g
