The list of publishers embracing mobile devices as a viable platform for their content continues to grow. The iPad is receiving particularly strong love.
Online magazine Slate now has an iPad app, available for free in the iTunes App Store. Perhaps former Slate editor Jason Weisberg — currently editor-in-chief of Slate Group – has changed his mind about the iPad’s place in publishing. Just three short months ago, Weisberg cautioned publishers against buying into the hype surrounding the iPad as the savior of a dying industry, but did admit at the time, “I have high hopes for the iPad app that Slate is working on.”
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. recently announced its upcoming release of a new national newspaper to be distributed solely via mobile devices, including the iPad. The newspaper will be general interest and will charge a subscription fee. It will also operate under the New York Post, meaning that the two will share reporting staff among other things.”We’ll have young people reading newspapers,” the 79-year-old Murdoch said during the company’s Aug. 4 earnings call. “It’s a real game changer in the presentation of news.” No official launch date has been announced yet, but some sources indicate that it could happen by the end of this year. There is also no indicate yet of what the subscription fee might be, but News Corp.-owned The Wall Street Journal currently charges $4 a week.
People‘s iPad app will now be free for subscribers to its print edition ($100 a year), after months of discussion between owner Time Inc. and Apple. “People’s subscriber base is extremely loyal and pays a premium price for the magazine,” said Martha Nelson, editor of Time Inc.’s style and entertainment group. “We want them to have the ability to consume People content however they choose.”
Source: “News Corp. plans national newspaper for tablet computers and cellphones,” Los Angeles Times, 08/13/10
Source: “Slate Has an iPad App!,” Slate, 08/11/10
Source: “Apple’s Way: Why publishers should beware the App Store,” Slate, 05/14/10
Source: “People Magazine Subscribers to Receive Free Access on iPads,” The New York Times, 08/19/10
Photo by Veronica Belmont, used under its Creative Commons license.