,h5>Updated Saturday, Sept. 4, 17:42 Frankfurt, Germany, time
TAKEAWAY: As I prepare to give a keynote for the WoodWing World Tour in London, Sept. 17, I think of the key centerpieces of what the audience of such a gathering should hear about the state of the industry. PLUS: The war of the eReaders AND: Mario’s interview in Weave, German magazine
As many of you are aware, WoodWing, the Amsterdam-based publishing solutions firm, is an industry leader in assisting media houses with cross-media publishing. They have done it with TIME, The Axel Springer Group (Germany), Gannett (USA) and a long list of worldwide customers.
It is almost a sure bet that if the iPad is coming to a new country, WoodWing is already there, as is the case now with Russia, where the iPad is arriving soon and already WoodWing has assisted with the tablet edition of the Russian Cosmopolitan.
WoodWing’s World Tour is an opportunity for people in the industry to come together for a day and be exposed to the latest of the technological solutions for iPad apps, to check case studies of those who have already done it successfully, and to share common experiences with peers.
I am honored to be invited by Erik Schut, WoodWing president, to kick off the Sept. 17 London program with a keynote.
We’re very excited to have Mario Garcia present a keynote at our World Tour in London. Mario has spent the last 40 years to redesign publications for over 550 organizations throughout the world. Many of the concepts that Mario has been preaching for a long time can now be applied better than ever on the tablet. Mario has a great vision how to make the best out of the tablet. Apart from that he is an engaging presenter and a very nice person. So I’m sure that everybody will enjoy and learn a lot from Mario’s keynote,” Erik said.
Five centerpieces of my talk
1. If you are not already doing so, you must be putting together a team to explore iPad (tablet) editions of your newspaper or magazine.
2. Let this group deal with the four key issues that are pivotal to successful iPad apps: storytelling, advertising, technology and economics (revenue).
3. Consider a special iPad edition, as opposed to creating page by page pdfs of your existing publication——although that could be a good step to introduce your publication to the iPad, but only as a first step.
4. Appoint an iPad edition editor to coordinate the effort and to make sure that there is plenty that is uniquely created for the tablet.
5. Develop the talent: every media house has a core of young talent that is specifically helpful when it comes to creating those “pop up” moments in a tablet edition.
Registering for the WoodWing World Tour in London
Go here if you are interested in attending the Wold Tour in London, Sept. 17:
http://www.woodwing.com/en/Landing/woodwing-world-tour-2010/register
eReaders everywhere: the rush is on
It is the long Labor Day Weekend in the USA and weekend editions of newspapers swell with full page ads of what else but eReaders.
Indeed, USA Today’s Friday edition displays ads separated by a few pages of The All-New Kindle—-displayed as smaller, lighter, faster with 50% better contrast and the line that reads: Think of a book and start reading it in 60 seconds. Free 3G wireless. No monthly bills, no annual contracts. Carry up to 3500 books in the library.
Important is the weight: 8.7 ounces—-“lighter than a paperback”.
Then comes Pandigital Novel, where, as the ad states, you can “get your favorite eBooks, magazines, and newspapers instantly from Barnes & Noble.. It displays a 7-inch color screen, an SD card slot for limetless torage, and a powerful operating system that runs up to four applications at once. All multimedia capabilities powered by Android Operating System.
With the Christmas gift-giving season soon approaching, it will be fascinating to sit down and to watch how the eReaders play out with those tech savvy and whimsical users out there. Will iPad still be the tablet of choice? We think it will be a Kindle-iPad mano a mano with Santa Claus as referee!
The All New Kindle and Pandigital Novel ads in USA Today
Of related interest:
Samsung has officially unveiled its tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, the latest of its products to attempt to compete with mighty machine Apple.
http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/1025988/Samsung-unveils-iPad-rival-Galaxy-Tab/
The Weave magazine interview
Just before the iPad made its official premiere, Christophe Stoll, of the German magazine, Weave, interviewed me about my thoughts on the future of the industry with the arrival of the tablets.
Today, Christophe wrote me an email telling me that he thought the time was perfect to publish that interview now and that he hoped I was still in agreement with what I had told him then. Indeed, I am, only my enthusiasm for the iPad has grown even more now that I have worked with it and that I use it daily.
To read the interview in English, go here:
http://precious-forever.com/2010/09/03/interview-mario-garcia/
TheMarioBlog post #624