Traditional publishing welcomes the iPad

Published : 15 June 2010

The obvious delight, not to say relief, with which the traditional publishing media have welcomed the IPad has been nothing short of astonishing. Not for them another groan about further platforms proliferating and eating away at their profit margins. Nor inner angst at the further erosion of the printed media.

No: UK, French and German publishers have all rushed to provide IPad applications and versions of their print media. The Times – embarking on a challenge of historic proportions (and we will say here: courageous in its Canute-ness!) in erecting a pay wall – proudly announced 5,000 IPad subscriptions within the first few days of the iPad launch.

This is one technology advance which is being seen as a game changer. And not just because of the obvious aesthetic pleasures of using the iPad, nor its undisputed technology ingenuity. It is easy to see why publishers are stirred – for the first time a technology does true justice to their skills of presentation, design and centuries developed sense of the power of serendipity. 

And this enthusiasm is occurring just at the time when innovative web developers are trying to develop that sense of serendipitous discovery which is one of the fountains of knowledge.  Users of Last FM will be familiar now with “scrobbling”, their term for unnoticed patterns and connectivities which surprise the user with its automated suggestions for further listening. Another is  StumbleUpon’s  genuine attempt to go beyond the groupthink of Facebook and Amazon and to create serendipitous connections that go beyond  aggregated traffic indicators.

The enthusiasm of the traditional publishers, their belief in the iPad  (or is it last gasp hope?),  along with recent discoverability trends within web development,  may yet result in a creative fusion of imaginatively designed content, intelligent discovery tools, and enthralled engaged users.  Sound familiar...?

Gutenberg and Caxton would be best pleased !