There are plenty of iPad reviews around and I won’t be adding to the din. I want to focus not on the functionality of the device itself, but what the iPad might mean to the traditional media business.
For the past few weeks, as the hype built, there has been increasing chatter that this device could be the savior of magazines and newspapers. New subscription-based business models would be born. Users would pay a monthly fee to access their favorite publications on the iPad. Now that I’ve seen it, I think the iPad will make things worse, not better, for newspapers and magazines. Why? Because the iPad’s web browser is really good.
Why would anyone buy a monthly subscription-based app when they can go to the website for free on the same device? On the iPhone (and other smart phones) web browsing is limited by a tiny screen. While it’s vastly better than it was on earlier cell phones, it’s just not that compelling. Zooming in and out is a nuisance. You are in essence looking at the web through a toilet paper tube. You might pay a premium for an app specifically designed for a smaller screen. The iPad’s browser, however, is pretty much the same size with the same capabilities as a laptop browser. Your iPad content needs to be monetized in the same way as your web content.
Instead of growing the app economy, if the iPad takes off, it will grow the web economy. If you can’t monetize your current web media efforts, the iPad will exacerbate your problems rather than solve them.
