iPad-Only Magazines, Newspapers Debuting Soon
Coming soon to an iPad near you, special newspapers and magazines designed just for the tablet computer. David Carr, the media columnist for The New York Times, talks to Steve Inskeep about the new publications, and the business model behind them.
STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Welcome to the program.
DAVID CARR: Nice to be with you, Steve.
INSKEEP: Okay, why would you do a publication just for the iPad?
CARR: Because I have gobs and gobs of money, and I'm trying to find a place to stuff it.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: I don't mean you, literally. I mean, Richard Branson.
CARR: I'm kidding. We kid 'cause we love. Sir Richard Branson is a person who has a wingspan on all manner Of platforms and he makes phones, and he's sending people to outer space. So why wouldn't he want a nice little iPad magazine? From what I've been told, it's a monthly lifestyle magazine. The first cover, in keeping with the sort of digital environment, will be Jeff Bridges from "Tron."
INSKEEP: Okay. So the idea is really a magazine. It only comes out occasionally. But you would sit there and read it on your iPad, if you happen to own and iPad.
CARR: People would be surprised, the people who don't own iPads, how magazine like it is. So you literally do page through them horizontally. And yes, Mr. Branson's magazine will have a lot more rich media; meaning video and the ads will come alive. But in general, you're going to be sitting with it in your lap and turning pages, as we have for hundreds of years.
INSKEEP: And it's a little bit smaller than a page, an iPad screen. And when you flip it with your finger it actually looks like a page is flipping on there, pretty much.
CARR: I'm ashamed to admit how much delight that brings me - that page turning technology.
INSKEEP: So we've described Richard Branson's publication here. What is Rupert Murdoch's plan?
CARR: The conception of the daily, as it is called, is mostly original content. But it doesn't have any inbound links from the Web, no outbound links, so it's not really part of what we think of as the news ecosystem.
INSKEEP: Why would you do something that is specifically for one device that just, frankly, not everybody in America is going to have, as much publicity as it may get?
CARR: Out on the web, if you use the word subscriptions people flee in droves. They can't stand it.
INSKEEP: People expect it to be free, sure. Sure.
CARR: Right. But in and iPad environment, you expect to pay for the good stuff. And I do think that nomenclature is very important. When they get away from the word subscription and into the word application, well, that's a much sexier, much more friendly term.
INSKEEP: David Carr, media columnist for The New York Times, always a pleasure to speak with you.
CARR: A pleasure to speak with you, as well, Steve.
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