I am a big fan of iTunes and the iPod. We use Itunes as an additional way to distribute two of our TV shows to the masses. I am listening to my Ipod at 36,000 feet as I write this blog on my PC enroute to the Fly Fishing Retail Show in Denver where I will present our new AmericanAngler.com and FlyTyer.com filled with rich video edited on Final Cut on a Mac.
Over my career I have used both Apple and PC. My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20, but my first computer beyond games was an Apple IIe. To say I grew up on Apple is an understatement. I, unlike so may others, am thrilled that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has discounted the price of the iPhone. I wonder if this may lead to a more competitive pricing environment for other Apple products? The massive backlash by Apple loyalists to Steve’s recent decision is perplexing at best. It is sort of like the masses that were surprised when the iPhone had initial system and set-up issues. You Apple junkies want all of us to embrace your passions, yet you become distraught when we mention the price point of Mac use at a corporate level. Your commercials laugh at Vista, which my be truer than false, yet each year another OS for Mac comes out and my “Mac folks” line up at my door with their hand out for more cash. When I ask why I hear, “My God boss, the new version of Blah blah only runs on OS Blah, Blah.” So, now your leader, discounts the iPone and he is slapped, chastised and if you could, set in the public square and humiliated as the town loon?
I applaud Jobs for a job well done. At some point you have to realize that the sticker shock of Apple products is making it harder and harder to push through capital expenditure requests for their great products. This is not about little Suzy in her suburban bedroom where her parents dropped three grand on her Mac. As business people we have to fight every budget season to even keep Macs on our budget. Why, because they are so unreal in their pricing.
Steve, Mr. Jobs, take your great products to the next level. Do not be afraid by the stock market reaction to your decision. Do not falter in your ideals that the greatest customer is the one that will not only by your products, but the one that can afford them too.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Google and Amazon, will their e-books impact magazines?
Does the debut of the Kindle by Amazon.com mean digital magazines are one step closer to your bathroom? Will Google’s attempt at e-books mean that book and magazine printers will go bust?
The famous “3B test” is often called the litmus for whether digital magazines will succeed in the marketplace; bathroom, bus, beach. Will readers change their habits and carry their digital reader into the bathroom? Can the digital reader be seen in the sun on the beach? Is there enough wireless connectivity to read it on the bus? The answer to these questions is becoming much less a mystery every day.
The New York Times reports that Amazon in October will launch the Kindle, an e-book reader. The Kindle will run $400 to $500 and will connect wirelessly to an Amazon e-book store. The biggest flaw I find in this reader is its dependence on a proprietary software format rather than using a more widely accepted format like Adobe’s PDF. The New York Times further reports, “People familiar with the Kindle also have a few complaints. The device has a Web browser, but using it is a poor experience, because the Kindle’s screen, also from E Ink, does not display animation or color.”
In kind, Google will start charging users for access to digital copies of many of the online books that have, in the past, been free to view. It would seem that any time Google gets involved in any equation there is a winning touchdown very near. In most cases even the appearance of a thrown together beta test from Google has been well thought out and tested. For its part, Google has no plans to launch an eReader.
This conversation can not go much further without bringing up the Sony reader that has yet to make a huge splash in the main stream. However, because Sony has not released user numbers, one might speculate that their most recent promotion in some major cities leads to a quiet revolution of sorts for the product.
Peter Kafka, from the Silicon Alley Insider blogs, "There's no price advantage for consumers, either: Even though e-book titles cost much less than physical books to produce and distribute, Kindle -- terrible name! -- buyers will be asked to spend roughly the same amount on e-books as they do for traditional books. Otherwise publishers and authors won't sign off on the venture."
I will bet you a vanilla bean frappuccino that an enhanced magazine reader will be the next add on for the iPhone or the iTouch. Why? Apple is known for actually delivering what people want or what they never knew that they wanted until they held it in their hand. In addition, Apple displays color PDF's with clickable fields on almost all their devices.
The good news is this, those of us in the magazine business are safe. Designers, editors and publishers all have a job in the new world order. eReaders require great content, great design and well thought out editorial plans. There are some things a robot can not do well or at all.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/technology/06amazon.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1189170428-BHQZUnAHzimcbQSK5SFj7Q&oref=slogin
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/09/e-books-yet-aga.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frappuccino
The famous “3B test” is often called the litmus for whether digital magazines will succeed in the marketplace; bathroom, bus, beach. Will readers change their habits and carry their digital reader into the bathroom? Can the digital reader be seen in the sun on the beach? Is there enough wireless connectivity to read it on the bus? The answer to these questions is becoming much less a mystery every day.
The New York Times reports that Amazon in October will launch the Kindle, an e-book reader. The Kindle will run $400 to $500 and will connect wirelessly to an Amazon e-book store. The biggest flaw I find in this reader is its dependence on a proprietary software format rather than using a more widely accepted format like Adobe’s PDF. The New York Times further reports, “People familiar with the Kindle also have a few complaints. The device has a Web browser, but using it is a poor experience, because the Kindle’s screen, also from E Ink, does not display animation or color.”
In kind, Google will start charging users for access to digital copies of many of the online books that have, in the past, been free to view. It would seem that any time Google gets involved in any equation there is a winning touchdown very near. In most cases even the appearance of a thrown together beta test from Google has been well thought out and tested. For its part, Google has no plans to launch an eReader.
This conversation can not go much further without bringing up the Sony reader that has yet to make a huge splash in the main stream. However, because Sony has not released user numbers, one might speculate that their most recent promotion in some major cities leads to a quiet revolution of sorts for the product.
Peter Kafka, from the Silicon Alley Insider blogs, "There's no price advantage for consumers, either: Even though e-book titles cost much less than physical books to produce and distribute, Kindle -- terrible name! -- buyers will be asked to spend roughly the same amount on e-books as they do for traditional books. Otherwise publishers and authors won't sign off on the venture."
I will bet you a vanilla bean frappuccino that an enhanced magazine reader will be the next add on for the iPhone or the iTouch. Why? Apple is known for actually delivering what people want or what they never knew that they wanted until they held it in their hand. In addition, Apple displays color PDF's with clickable fields on almost all their devices.
The good news is this, those of us in the magazine business are safe. Designers, editors and publishers all have a job in the new world order. eReaders require great content, great design and well thought out editorial plans. There are some things a robot can not do well or at all.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/technology/06amazon.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1189170428-BHQZUnAHzimcbQSK5SFj7Q&oref=slogin
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/09/e-books-yet-aga.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frappuccino
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