I’ve been talking to myself for some time now about how traditional print media really shot themselves in the foot more than a decade ago by bundling web advertising in with traditional print FOR FREE. I could never get my head around it, as photographers often discussed it on various email lists such as EPUK as long as five years ago when publishers asked for rights to use content online while complaining that the website made no money. Well, now the website HAS to make money, see my post earlier this year about that.
Then a few months ago, we hear talk of Apple’s Tablet device as being a bigger iPhone style device and I start thinking, as I’m sure you will have been, about what a REALLY BIG deal this can be. Just look at how the iPhone is just soooo much more than just a phone, thanks to the power of iTunes and the App Store. Now take that sheer power of distribution and imagine this:
1. Imagine being able to download and buy your favourite car magazine onto your tablet, just like you do songs in iTunes
2. Imagine having your traditional car magazine, but with embedded videos alongside the photo shoots – now can you see where these HD DSLR’s by Canon come in?
3. Imagine you’re an advertiser being able to sponsor the videos and being able to not just put your website’s URL out there, but to have a clickable link within the content?
4. Imagine you’re a publisher who suddenly doesn’t have to think about the huge percentage the big news distribution warehouses take, you just need to get it listed on iTunes or indeed offer a download through your existing website with a pay portal
5. Imagine being a traditional newsagent or indeed any part of that distribution chain? I know I’d be worried.
This blog post by Vincent Laforet is a good read and echoes my thoughts on how 2010 will be the year of the tablet and indeed just might be the medicine that puts the publishing and news industry back to health. With a global audience for your publication avaiable as an iTunes download, the advertisers would be crazy not to be involved. Perhaps then, they’ll be charging for online advertising and throwing in the print version for free….
So that brings me to the creators viewpoint and what this means to photographers? It means getting involved in the whole convergence thing and getting to grips with some of the brillient new products that are arriving, not just from people like Canon, but from the mass of independent companies such as Zacuto, GlideTrack, Miller and other small enterprises.
All these products and technologies are changing the way we create content for our clients, both editorial and commercial and events like Convergence One by The Flash Centre are an important step along the way and if you thought that 2009 had been stuffed full of product announcements, I’m sure there are even more things in prototype form right now as more momentum is created. The benefits for photographers / film makers and our customers will be thrilling and I can’t wait to be part of it!
05/01/10 – A quick note to add a link to this post by The Recovering Journalist and his comments on where the Apple Tablet might just be taking us all. Well worth a read.