IP: DEFINING THE MARKET FOR DIGITAL PRINT EDITIONS

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 20:03:14 -0600
> To: dave () farber net
> From: Manny Farber <manny () manny com>
>
>
>
> > DEFINING THE MARKET FOR DIGITAL PRINT EDITIONS
> >
> >      (USA) -- Over the past year, four different companies --
> > NewsStand, qMags, Zinio and Olive Software -- have come up with plans
> > to reproduce a digital print edition of newspapers and magazines,
> > using a variety of technological approaches ranging from pdf files to
> > Web browsers to specialized software that creates a new viewer to
> > enhance the reading experience. But because the strategy of
> > transferring print designs to the screen for reading has proven less
> > than compelling, publishers must focus on other reasons that consumers
> > would want to read a newspaper on-screen. "What's most likely is that
> > these electronic editions will appeal to new subscribers in certain
> > circumstances," say authors Bill Rosenblatt and Mark Walter in a
> > recent Seybold Report on Analyzing Publishing Technologies. "First
> > among those will be places and times when it's hard to get printed
> > editions. Without doubt that presents an interesting opportunity to
> > reach readers located outside the publication's print distribution
> > network, as is the case for NewsStand's customers in Europe,
> > Australasia and South Africa, and qMags' customers in India. The
> > geographic issue could also be a factor for newspapers or professional
> > magazines who want road warriors to be able to download the latest
> > edition while waiting in the airoprot lounge or sleeping in a hotel."
> > Rosenblatt and Walter counsel publishers to be open to trying out the
> > different technologies on a nonexclusive basis to see which one fits
> > their potential customers' needs the best, and to keep an eye toward
> > future innovation in hardware platforms, especially Microsoft's Tablet
> > PC, which will be available either next year or in 2003. (Seybold
> > Reports on Analyzing Publishing Technologies 19 Nov 2001)
> > http://www.seyboldreports.com/TSR/subs/0116/html/crossmedia.html
> > (subscription required)


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