Hardware and Content

Another interesting week.

Hot on the heels of the release of Kindle 2, comes very tantalising announcements from another direction. Plastic Logic have a very slick hardware platform that comes straight from sci-fi movies of the 90s. With a 8.5 x 11 inch screen, this is an eReader platform that is perfect for larger format publications like magazines and newspapers. It is then not surprising that a number of heavy-weight content providers like Zinio, McGraw-Hill and the New York Times have already signed up to support the platform for its release in 2010.

One area I see Plastic Logic making big inroads is in the music publishing industry because this is the first screen I have seen that is PERFECT to display music scores. Other attempts by orchestras and musical ensembles to try and reduce their dependence on paper have never been practical despite a fortune being spent in the quest. I can however see this technology sitting very comfortably in concert halls around the world in the next decade, a move that potentially could save music organisations and publishers millions of dollars each year.

So is it the hardware or the content that is driving these advances? As history has shown, you cannot succeed without both which is why I believe that Kindle and Plastic Logic each have bright futures.

Now we have to consider that instead of having just one device to satisfy our digital print appetites we will need at least two?

Is Kindle the Digital Holy Grail?

This piece: http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/1/printing-the-nyt-costs-twice-as-much-as-sending-every-subscriber-a-free-kindle has sparked some interesting comment the industry about print v. digital.

If you do not live in the USA you may wonder why is Kindle the comparison point for all things digital. This is a very cool piece of hardware from Amazon which has a number of innovations, the most important being its "electronic ink" display which uses reflected rather than projected light. It is actually a joy to read day or night.

Whether or not Kindle is a triumph of design, marketing, or both it is now the basis from which all competitors are judged. Those users lucky enough to get one (because demand has outstripped supply ever since its launch) are even more noticeable than the iPhone zealots of 2008.

If you have not got your hands on a Kindle yet, then if you read this blog I suspect you will not have long to wait.

Why Digital Editions struggle

An interesting article here http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/print/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685720 that uses the rather poor audit circulation results for digital edition and industry comment to highlight the move to Web-based Mag sites rather than digital editions.

While these figures cannot be ignored, there are a couple of reasons why I think digital editions still may have their day.

In this article http://www.ojr.org/ojr/technology/1054780462.php consultant Vin Crosbie lists circulation, context, familiarity, portability and convenience as compelling reasons for a digital edition.

I would also add two more:

1) The social cost: with the growing forced global social conscience about the plight of our world, the conversion of the earth's lungs into paper pulp combined with the environmental costs of moving it around will ultimately influence more consumer decisions in the future.

2) The financial cost: As the cost of print continues to spiral upwards, digital is becoming cheaper. It is possible to turn a magazine into a digital version almost instantaneously and economically (certainly a fraction of a cost a Mag site) and so the technology can be introduced without a huge capital cost. Also consumers seem to be prepared to pay for something packaged in this form whereas it is difficult to get anyone to pay for anything on the www.

It will be advertisers though that will drive this revolution. The www is almost anti-adverting with companies resorting to all sorts of tricks to try and catch the attention of the digital generation. With print and its digital cousin, advertising can happily co-exist with content which benefits both the advertiser and reader.

In my view as soon as we have the hardware that allows us to recreate the experience of print in a digital form then nothing will stop it.