TAKEAWAY: All eyes may be on the Philadelphia experiment—the Inquirer and Daily News go for “first-of-a-kind tablet plan” using Android tablets to generate digital content adoption . Will it succeed with a tablet that few have ever heard of?
The Philadelphia Tablet Experiment
Now, an interesting experiment to keep an eye on, if you are interested in newspapers and tablet development.
Those Philadelphia newspapers—-The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News—- will now provide $99 Android tablets if you agree to subscribe to the two Inky and one DN apps (which come preloaded). Two of the apps are digital replicas, but the Inky does have a new, more customized app as well.
Why is this important?
Well, this is the first major media company to sell subsidized tablets, which has long been discussed as a possible business plan. The potential problem with the strategy is that it may encourage lower quality elements to hit a price point, such as a tablet, running an outdated version of the Android operating system, that is probably no competitor to the iPad. But, of course, this tablet is a window into the Inquirer and Daily News apps; its other features are secondary.
Perhaps the $285 price is right (which includes one year subscription to the apps), even if the platform itself is not the one most users would opt for. By the way,The tablets are Arnova 10 G2 Android devices made by French consumer electronics company Archos. It appears that the business plan goes beyond subscriptions to include advertising, of course.
The tablet will start with three sponsors: Comcast, Wells Fargo, and Main Line Health, a regional hospital network.
One thing is for sure: we are likely to see more of these experiments in the future, even with better known and more app-rich tablets. I imagine that all eyes will be on the Philadelphia experiment in the months ahead to see how the plan goes for them.
It may be the start of the “beyond the iPad” tablet revolution for newspapers. We must wait and see.
The tablet’s here to stay
Windows 8: pictures, video, and a hands-on preview of the developer build
http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/13/windows-8-tablet-photos-video-preview/
Highlight: Very cool. And continuing to dispel any lingering doubts that the tablet will be a major platform in years to come.
Have a little fun here
Stephen Colbert Reports on an Old-Fashioned Hero
Newspapers are part of America’s past, like buggy whip makers and the middle class, but they still perform an important function.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/396382/september-12-2011/stephen-reports-on-an-old-fashioned-hero
Highlight: “But as much as I dislike them newspapers do perform an important function. For one, it’s hard to house train a dog on an iPad. App makers, get cracking!”