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What to expect from iTunes for magazines?

It seems that Apple is very confident in its plans for the long-awaited, once seemed completely mythical iSlate or iTablet - its first tablet with touchscreen.

The novelty excites not only the minds of many fans of this company, it also touches the publishers of magazines who, long before the appearance of even the first rumors about this device, saw in it the potential for their industry. Considering that Apple has never officially confirmed the development, the announcement in early December of opening a digital store, the so-called “iTunes for magazines”, which, among other things, should fit perfectly with the tablet, looks very hasty.

Everything written about the store and its connection with the tablet is somewhat confusing. Let's look at the key issues and see what it all means for the besieged magazine industry.





iTunes or Hulu for magazines?





Most of the articles on the new project suggest that it is built on the iTunes model, but some have associations with Hulu - (for now) a free site that broadcasts TV and movies.

Although many do not see much difference, iTunes and Hulu use very different business models. iTunes offers small pieces of content (a song or a series from the series) for little money, besides selling periodic access to TV shows and the ability to download movies. Hulu does not currently charge for any of its content. The site earns on advertising.

In an interview with the New York Observer, Executive Vice President of Time Inc., which will soon leave the post for the new enterprise, John Squires did not specify how the users will pay for the content. He said that individual publishers would set their own content fee. This does not clarify the possibility of free and free-of-charge-advertising content.

But most likely some of the content will be free, some will be free due to the advertising embedded in the content, and some will only be available for a paid subscription (and at the same time also contain ads). Publishers will be able to sell content in chunks, for example, a separate article from the issue or multimedia on the topic.

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Who is involved in this project?





The joint venture included five publishers: Time Inc., Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith and News Corporation. The first four are the largest publishers of magazines in the United States in terms of profitability, according to a report on the state of news media for 2009 . As for News Corporation, it owns a large number of magazines in Australia and around the world.

These publishers own some of the most famous magazines in the country: Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Glamor, Wired, the New Yorker, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, O: The Oprah Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, and Family Circle. In other words, the joint venture will affect at least one of the magazines that falls into the house of the average American.



What will the tablet magazine look like?





A couple of video demonstrations of magazines formatted for tablets can already be seen on the net. Here is the tablet version of Sports Illustrated , which, according to preliminary estimates, is very similar to what can be bought through the new store a la iTunes. The digital version contains video, photo galleries, customizable content and ... video from a swimsuit photo shoot. (There is also a demo of the same number provided by TechCrunch ).

Wired magazine has also been reworked. This video shows his new tablet view. Both demos show how magazines can be read by turning the tablet vertically and horizontally. In addition, they demonstrate online advertising.



How will publishers make money?





Publishers are likely to make money in the same way as in the paper version: subscription and advertising. True, the electronic version gives an advantage - the publisher can track how the reader interacts with advertising. For example, how much time is spent on viewing ads, whether they begin to look for additional information about the product at this moment.

Publishers have long argued that magazine readers consider advertising to be an essential attribute of the consumption of this type of printed product. The Directory of American Journal Publishers (PDF, 904 Kb) states that 54% of readers of magazines have a very positive or partially positive attitude to advertising in them. However, skeptical and increasingly thrifty advertisers may require more convincing arguments. Data that publishers of digital magazines will be able to provide about browsing and reading habits will enable advertisers to more accurately determine their target audience and develop more cost-effective advertising methods.



What formats will be sold?





United publishers claim that their “digital storefront” will use open standards, likely so other publishers and device makers can join. Microsoft is reportedly developing a device called the Courier, a touchpad in the form of a booklet , not a tablet. A well-known manufacturer of phones, the company HTC is expected to launch a touchscreen device based on the Android operating system in the coming months.

However, the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook e-readers may not be invited to the party of the new enterprise, because their current technology does not allow displaying colors and videos, and also because the files they download use their own formats.



Is it new? Is it all different?





The real problem of this venture may be the search for real innovations. Although the idea of ​​“iTunes for magazines” by itself and its reliance on the latest technology may seem quite innovative, the fundamental question is whether the new distribution model and business can fully exploit the advantages of the digital format in an exciting, interesting, creative way.

For these demos, you can see that the prototypes do not introduce anything special to the reading of the magazines. Most of the already demonstrated can be seen on well-made magazine sites. Already, the reader can receive content in any order, watch accompanying multimedia materials, interact with other readers and social media. And in most cases these are free sites.

So far, judging by the demo, the tablet format and business model in the style of iTunes may not be a fundamental change in the nature of magazine content and the reading process. Now it is only a new way of distribution, and not an essential change in the journal industry. Maybe the tablet editions are brighter and more beautiful, but by and large they offer all the same content, only in a new form. The reader has to determine whether these qualities outweigh the advantages of paper magazines in price and convenience.



Susan Currie Sivek, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at California State University in Fresno. Her research focuses on magazines and media communities. She also blogs at sivekmedia.com and works as a correspondent for MediaShift .

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/287650/



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