What Magazines and Newspapers for the iPad should be like

Me parece muy buena la reflexión que el blog baekdal.com hace sobre el futuro de los medios a partir de la irrupción del iPad. Lo que aparece a continuación es el resumen final. Si quieres leer el artículo entero, pincha aquí.

The iPad, and devices like it (in the future), will be a game changer. I have no doubt about that. It allows us to have the convenience of a screen, without having to sit down behind a computer. And it can provide access to all the content in the world, real-time, wherever we are, with no real effort on our part. It's brilliant.


But magazines and newspapers needs to get it right before getting any hope of it being "their savior."

What you do is:

Stop thinking print! The iPad is not a digital version of your printed magazine. It is a really impressive version of your website. That's where you should look. What works and doesn't work on your website - and how can you then extend it into really impressive articles on the iPad?

Stop thinking distribution! The iPad is connected. You are in direct contact with your readers. Instead of thinking "we have to deliver this to our readers as an app." There is no distribution unless you make it up! Make you content available, and add it to the stream.

Stop thinking magazine! Think really amazing articles. You are not selling a magazine. You are selling truly amazing stories.

Stop thinking animation and effects! Start thinking a better way to tell a story.

Start thinking sharing!

Start thinking social engagement! Can people comment, can people collaborate, do you allow people to be a part of the articles, instead of merely readers? Do you base the rank of each article on reader interaction, or do you limit it to "editorial decision making"

Start thinking "getting content to where people are"!

Start thinking "linking content together" (as opposed to "tables of contents")

Start thinking niche! It is much better to write five really good articles, than one good one and ten not very interesting ones. If you want to cover five wildly different topics, create five widely different magazines. But reuse your resources.

And finally, stop thinking that you have to deliver something big. The future of publishing is like social media - It is not an event. It is a process! (thanks to Seth Godin for that quote)

For magazines: The iPad is not the next "print". The iPad is the next "web".