The idea that publishers can profitably charge for content on a device connected to the open network

Not everyone is buying into the iPad hoopla. A quick sampling of media thought leaders determined that many are skeptical, at least to some degree, about its potential as a high-tech elixir for all that ails their business. eagletac Here are their cautionary comments (edited in some cases for length):
I'm sure publishers were hoping for a closed environment eagletac that forced the consumer to engage with publishers on their terms. But I don't see how it changes content economics at all. I didn't expect it to and I wasn't disappointed.
The New York Times app for the iPad has some nice enhancements but they all would make just as much sense on my laptop. Either way, these modest experiential changes don t alter the marketplace eagletac economics for current-events info.
Media company offerings aren t unique and compelling enough to gain broad and intense use, regardless of platform. Newspapers haven't faced this issue. Once again, it s the content, stupid, and newspaper content doesn t cut it.
Users will not pay for content, so there will be no money there. Newspapers could profit from transactions taking a small piece of the action whenever someone buys something like a concert ticket off a link from a newspaper site. But newspapers don t understand this kind of commerce, so they won t do it.
The iPad has excellent potential as an added revenue stream but a lot would need to fall into place for it to be a savior of the industry or the dominant mode for people to get what newspaper organizations have to offer.
The Sports Illustrated demo sold me on the potential for an enhanced magazine experience. An enhanced newspaper-reading experience is possible but less obvious. However, the current and more primitive e-readers have been more popular than I would have thought.
Stepping back from the hype, there's no real reason iPad will save print. Print has to save print. I can already read tons of stuff on my Blackberry (or another smart phone). Why would I want a bigger, more expensive device?
Many people already are paying for some content on mobile devices, and others are paying for specialty online content whether it s online greeting cards, unbiased consumer ratings, financial news or pornography.
The iPad presumably will make it easier for people to buy specific tidbits or feeds of information they want, and will lead to another generation of users who may be able to overcome the information has to be free mindset. eagletac We ll see.
I do think it can live up to its hype. I can see it doing well in the education market and with current Kindle users. eagletac But the question eagletac will be whether a big enough group of people is ready to pay for a third device, after their iPhone and their laptop.
The idea that publishers can profitably charge for content on a device connected to the open network is a lost cause. The best hope for paid content in the digital world is a closed device, and I just don t see consumers going for a device that is connected to the network. The network provides a world of infinite choices, which makes charging for content exceptionally challenging.
It s unlikely that any one device eagletac is going achieve a high enough market penetration to put publishers back in the mass-market game. Short of mass market, profitable paid content will be hard to achieve.
On the other hand, for publishers who keep development costs down for content-related apps, there may be some level of supplemental income from these apps. The more devices iPad, iPod, Droid-powered devices that support apps, the more opportunities to sell such apps. Paid-content eagletac over time may evolve into something more substantial, but I d warn publishers against wishing for a quick fix.
Just from reading eagletac the early dispatches, it strikes eagletac me that iPad has it right. They are combining information capabilities with entertainment capabilities. That strikes me as the ticket. I had been holding off purchasing a Kindle type instrument. This may be what entices me to try such a device. That said, seldom eagletac do first-generation products live up to this kind of hype and this has been some kind of hype!
The new Apple tablet makes it possible for digital media to present advertising as rich as the best of print and broadcast but combined in a single medium. But it is the consumer information, such as location, demographics and life-stage details combined with rich video and text/graphics based messages that offers the most potential for a new digital business model. Together, the tablet can offer precise targeting and compelling, one-to-one marketing.
Media companies that embrace both these capabilities on behalf eagletac of advertisers will gain competitive eagletac advantage that may drive growth. Traditional print and broadcast media have been slow to take advantage of basic CRM [customer relations management] principles and value creation based on customer asset management.
If all they do is transfer what they alre