Advice & inspiration

Apple’s iPad: Three weeks into the (magical) revolution?

In anticipation of Poynter’s webinar Tuesday on the iPad (which you should totally enroll in if you are free from 2-3pm EST) we asked Tim McLaughlin, multimedia director at Maine Media Workshops, to give us his take on the introduction of the iPad and its potential in the media industry. Tim spoke with MSNBC developers and multimedia guru Bob Sacha, as well as analyzed iPad’s pricing model as seen in current apps by The Wall Street Journal and TIME Magazine. We loved reading Tim’s assessment and we hope you will as well!

If you are interested in learning more about the iPad with acclaimed multimedia producer Regina McCombs during Tuesday’s Poynter webinar, make sure to enter the promo code PNUPAD10 when registering for a $5 discount!

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Is there any gadget in recent memory that has commanded such attention? In the months since Apple’s iPad was first introduced there has been a wellspring of heated debate about the necessity and role of the device in our already digitally saturated environment. Is this the new model of computing? Is this old technology repackaged impeccably in that oh-so-suave Jonathan Ives way?

Honestly, let’s leave that to the wonderful folks at Engadget. What readers of this blog are interested in, why many of us have spent countless hours learning everything we can about this device is the impact it’s going to have on the media. How will this ever-so-carefully crafted piece of aluminum and glass change, or not change, how the news is reported? What are some of the contemporary pricing and layout trends, and what does that say about the direction of the news on this platform?

One of the best descriptions of the iPad that I’ve heard came from MSNBC multimedia producer Jonathan D. Woods. Woods pointed out that the iPad can be shared with the person next to you, much like a newspaper or magazine can. To be sure there are some weight differences, and I’m certain more than one of us would be hesitant to pass along a $500 piece of aluminum to a random stranger, but his point is clear.

The experience is closer to that of something we are familiar with: print. Even more so than the experience of turning our laptop to a neighbor, or calling someone to look at a desktop computer screen, the iPad is personable (you touch to interact) and it’s easy to share with others.

As a bonus for those of us in visual journalism, the information is no longer static as it is in print. I can share a slideshow or a multimedia piece in much the same way I can share an article on print, and I can do it on a screen that is a pleasure to look at. Consider the following the situation; you’re on a plane with a friend that’s sitting in the row behind you. You have the choice of showing your friend a multimedia piece on a laptop, or on your iPad. Which object are you more willing to pull out?

The combination of portability, intimacy and screen size are the unique attributes of the iPad. That combination, in my opinion, should be a call-to-arms for media outlets. There’s so much potential for creativity and new ways of thinking about dissemination. And to be sure, there are some pretty stunning examples. Take for instance the Wired or Viv Magazine mockups — very different in terms of their design philosophies, but similarly fresh in their take on the “magazine” platform.

And for the visual journalist, it’s easy to feel a little giddy about the possibilities when looking at these concepts. Imagine chapters or “featured articles” that are embedded 5-20 minute multimedia pieces, or a photo essay that can be played full screen and at high resolution. Imagine the possibilities for data visualization in the style of The New York Times. If the combination of portability and intimacy is what makes the tablet format more like print, it’s the potential of well-executed visual journalism that sets it apart.

Sadly, however, many of the currently released news-related iPad applications largely replicate their current browser based layouts (which were originally based on their print version). And this is what I fear. Rather than innovate, rather than attempt to break out of a column-by-column existence, media outlets will once again rest on what they were.

I question whether people will pay precious dollars for the same information presented in a slightly different package. Either the content has to be unique to the platform, or the experience of the presentation has to be so radically different that a consumer would be willing to pay extra for it. Ideally, I would imagine, it would be a blend of both.

Additionally, the pricing models for a number of these apps are confusing and expensive. Let me be clear: I think media companies have every right to charge for their product. I value the information that they give and am willing to pay for it if they deem it necessary. But that willingness wears thin when I see some of their pricing structures.

For instance, the Time Magazine app costs five dollars per issue, not unlike their print version. However, there is no option (yet) for a subscription-based plan. Essentially Time is forcing it’s readers to buy à la carte for the iPad version regardless of the fact that a full year subscription of the print version can be bought for $20. This is even crazier when you add all the free content that Time offers on its website! The Time example is indicative of the general messiness of pricing structures when it comes to digital and print media that originates from the same institution.

And I should mention that Time is not alone in this. The Wall Street Journal has a similarly confounding pricing structure, actually charging more for their iPad application than their print subscription. In my very humble opinion, why not offer a little more consistency or simplicity? In the instance of Time or The Wall Street Journal, why not offer a reduced rate for an annual subscription to a constantly updating iPad app?

Furthermore, why not allow the customer to pick and choose how they want their content and grant discounts on subscriptions to those who want the information on more than one medium? Perhaps the best example for the media to look to is Apple. The iTunes model, for example, works because the content is easily accessible and the pricing structure is simple to understand. Look to what works.

So is the iPad the savior of journalism?

“No.”

“No.”

That first no belongs to the already quoted Mr. Woods, the second belongs to Bob Sacha, formally of National Geographic and MediaStorm, and currently busy teaching half the east coast about multimedia.

I think Sacha put it best when he told me “Apple’s done a great job on their hardware to make something really cool,” but adds, “I’m not going to trust print media and say, ‘Of course they’re going to nail this’…I think newspapers and magazines need to re-imagine themselves for the web, and not just think a different delivery device will be the answer.”

A recent study by Morgan Stanley (nicely summarized by Mashable) predicts that by 2015 the majority of web traffic will originate from mobile devices. In that same study, it was also determined that video accounts for a whopping 69% of current mobile data traffic.

Based on these numbers, it would appear that a news iPad (or some other tablet) app, which leverages visual content, presents a clear and concise pricing scheme, and does so in a package that is created specifically for the platform could potentially cause waves in the industry. And while that truly innovative package has yet, in my opinion, to arrive, I hope the sale of 500,000 iPads in two weeks might encourage some quick creative thinking.

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Currently the Director of Multimedia at the Maine Media Workshops and Maine Media College, Tim McLaughlin is a photographer, multimedia documentarian and educator located in Rockport, ME. Originally from Louisville KY., Tim has his masters of fine arts from the University of Florida and a bachelors from Centre College, but owes a great deal to the two years he spent at Western Kentucky University. Tim has worked with MediaStorm, the Eddie Adams Workshop, the Rocky Mountain News, the Mountain Workshops and most recently shot a film for the Rotterdam Film Festival. See more of his work at mixedmotion.com.

Other posts that might interest you:

• Dentsu London and BERG present “Making Future Magic: iPad light painting”
• 20 educational (and free!) multimedia resources
• Inventing Interactive: A coincidentally similar media blog to put on your radar!

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