The Apple iPad launched this past weekend amid mass but not untoward hype and hysteria. I have been playing with Steve’s gift to the media and am seriously impressed – not just with the elegant machine I am holding in my hands but with the future it points towards.
I hope that readers of this blog who must start-out with a certain interest in all things Thomson Reuters will download and try our new News Pro application for the iPad. It is being prominently featured in the iPad applications section of iTunes.
But that is not why I am posting this item. For some years now I have been arguing in this blog and elsewhere that the death of newspapers (or more accurately some newspapers) does not portend the death of journalism. I have maintained that many media executives have been wearing a type of blinders that make them incapable of seeing beyond the current version of “paper” as the output device or medium for their efforts.
What the iPad represents for me is a trail of breadcrumbs along a path to the future of media. Sure even the Day 1 version out of the box is cool functional and performant. But what is really exciting to me is the direction that Apple is pointing. What will the son or grandson of iPad be like? Do you remember your original white iPod with its control wheel? I bet it is sitting at the bottom of a drawer waiting to join your Sony Walkman and TRS-80 (for you old-timers) in your personal tech museum.
I believe we are going to see a recovery and rebirth of “newspapers” and “magazines” on the iPad and even more so on future devices. Now that a new generation of digital natives are moving into positions of authority at many publications they are ready to exploit the full range of expression that the new medium permits. So for example if Vogue magazine has a story and photo layout of the latest Prada collection from Milan why not a video of the catwalk – right in the “magazine” you read and not on some special PC-accessible web site. Ditto Sports Illustrated L’Equipe or Tuttosport.
Where do we go from here? Well first I think we should play and enjoy the current iPad — or even better the 3G/wifi version coming soon. Later versions will undoubtedly be lighter brighter for use in sunny locations and have even longer-lived batteries. I still think that we eventually will come to use a very lightweight and flexible plastic sheet controlled by touch and by a next generation iPhone- like device as our high quality “paper.” However in the meantime just enjoy the voyage – it’s going to be a fun ride.
Hi Tom I could not agree with you more. The way technology is turning for the world is at a pace faster than ever before. With corporate tech companies constantly continuing to compete for the latest coolest gadget on the market there is really no end in sight yet. When I first seen the Ipad during the release the first thing I said was “I will have that!”. There s no doubt in my mind that millions of others said the same thing. Your point about there being a flexible plastic sheet with touch screen capability was spot on. Just the other day I was watching Vin Diesel movie (not sure what the name was) and he had a map that was of the same concept. Of course the movie was based in the future however that just goes to show that these are things many people are thinking about. I think our future for web technology is really just beginning. We are now entering the future part of Back to the Future. Brad Nestings President of Marketing My Biznez Inc.
I heard this somewhere: “Journalism is not dying it’s just taking a different definition.”
I also agree with both Tom’s commentary and Brad’s comments. But we must seek to separate the hype and excitement of the latest “cool” invention with the underlying social signposts that such a device puts before us. I think we all acknowledge that the methods frequency locations and quantity of the media and information we consume has changed beyond all recognition within the past decade. I for one consume over 50 RSS feeds of news and information daily now on my commute to work each day. I cannot conceive how I could cover so much ground if this was purely in print. What has driven this shift in the way information is consumed ? I would suggest we now live in an age where we want up-to-the-second information whenever we choose to have it in the form and format that suits us. Not each morning when the newspaper publishers choose to provide it but in the coffee shop on the train sitting on the sofa in the evening. And this trend applies equally to both business information as it does for consumer and social information. The iPad (and while we’re at it it’s little brother the iPhone) are enablers and facilitators of this trend. They may even accelerate it but I think the societal reasons why they will be so successful are far more sustained and far reaching than just because they are “cool”. Those in the information industries would do well to recognise these signposts and act accordingly.
Mr. Glocer I just joined your blog some 10 minutes ago but having read your newer posts this one was my favorite. There is something counterrevloutionary to newspapers who insist not only that the world must change and they must have a role in changing it… but newspapers themselves mustn’t. Gutenberg was a genius but I suspect he’d rather read his Reuters news online clicking on the stories that interested him rather than getting his thumbs dirty sifting between what a romantic editor decided yesterday he ought to read today. As for the 21st century my only regret today is the technology is a bit spendy but soon with more serious competition coming from an upgraded Kindle to the new Verizon-Google partnership “readers” like the iPad should be better performing and cost half of their current price. Cheers –Sean
I have still yet to see an iPad but would like to have a look soon and decide whether it is something to add to my list of gadgets
Tom I attended your AmCham session in Singapore this week and very much enjoyed listening to your perspectives on the region and its opportunities and some of the challenges we all face around the world today. Having found your blog I’ve enjoyed reading more of your thoughts and perspectives thanks! Having read your comments on the iPad/ media I wanted to share the attached. If you haven’t seen it this video is of a guy called Pranav Mistry who shares his SixthSense device which integrates the real and digital worlds he even demonstrates a paper laptop! My bet… we will be hearing a lot more of this guy and his software. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/videoshow_ted/5231080.cms
The sleek design and fast features not to mention the hundreds of apps available make the ipad a mobile monster. I’ve yet to purchase one not for lack of wanting. I think the ipad has the chance to revolutionize the way we do mobile business. Instead of having to lug around a laptop now you can whip out your ipad and conduct your business. That didn’t sound right but you get my point. Love your blog Tom!