Allison Elkin was the Spring 2015 co-chief copy editor of the RRJ. Max iPad
Paul Michelman over at Harvard Business Review is worried publishers are going to fail with the iPad in the same way they failed online. Taking the print product and making it digital didn’t work online, and it won’t work with the iPad, wrote Michelman. “The publishing industry’s strategy: create products and experiences that so mimic print that we are able to extend its dying advertising and subscription models.”
Perhaps his most poignant observation was that readers are no longer a publisher’s first priority; the business model is. I posted a video a few weeks back that highlighted the disconnect between publishers and their readers. Going forward with a “screw the consumer, save the business model” attitude is all backwards. There is a place for traditional news organizations in an age where information is atomized — but they’ll need to try harder to make it.
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