TAKEAWAY: Smartphones, tablets and desktops: the battle is on as for which gets more attention from those digital users. More important, however, is how we manage the content that we flow into these platforms.
For The New York Times: the smartphone dominates the early morning market, when commuters are trying to get the news before they head out the door.
The tablet and the smartphone continue to be the two platforms of choice for catching up, with tablet use gaining in the evening
The media quartet at The New York Times
As I am in the midst of preparing presentations for various seminars and workshops during the months of September and October, a question many of those in charge of organizing these events have for me is: are smartphones becoming more powerful than tablets for everyday news consumption?
I am sure that smartphones take the lead in terms of frequency of usage, not necessarily time spent per session, when it comes to the four platforms of the media quartet. It could be because of their small size, which makes the phones more portable and easier to access. It also has to do with the time of day.
An recent informative interview in emarketer with Paul Smurl, General Manager, Core Digital Products, The New York Times Co, tells us the same.
Smurl is convinced time of the day determines whether the user will access information on the phone versus the tablet.
The usage is heavier in the morning, especially for news content because users are trying to get the news before they head out the door. And, they’re going to take their smartphone on the commute, but not their tablet. In the evening, the usage is a little lighter because people are catching up on the news and what happened and getting some perspective, but they’re using their tablets more, at least in the evening, as an entertainment or second-screen device.
I also agree with Smurl when he says that, while smartphone use is prevalent, tablet use is growing. To me, the most interesting transformation in tablet use for news consumption is that it is beginning to spill beyond the lean back evening hours, and into the rest of the day.
In a sense, the much discussed competition that tablets are supposed to give print editions overlooks that perhaps the real competitor is the smartphone. Not to mention desktops, which seem to be taking a greater secondary role as the mobile platforms gain dominance, something that Smurl refers to as well in his interview:
People are replacing their laptop or desktop at home with tablets, and that trend is just going to continue. As a publisher, it’s really hard to build for all of the different screen sizes and do a really high-quality job in customizing the experience to each device. I’m hoping we get a little more standardization on that front.
Indeed, and equally important, how journalists in the newsroom adapt to these changes in platform preferences and what that means in terms of storytelling, frequency of updates,catering to users who seem to be constantly connected, hungry for fresh information and impatient as they get it.
Publishers, editors and their technical colleagues will have to brainstorm such things as modes of consumption, how we seem to like constant updates, but also need to see that there is an “end” to our news reading session, the balance between the static and the moving.
We are beginning to see a drift from that much discussed centerpiece of all centerpieces—-digital first—and a heavier concentration on how to handle how we put content into the digital platforms.
This is a good and natural progression that is not just shifting the focus of the discussion, but, hopefully, yielding some answers to questions that need to be answered sooner rather than later.
Smartphones versus tablets may not be the only vital question of the day.
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WAN IFRA: 6th Tablet & App Summit
October 7-8, Berlin
I am honored to be part of this program in which I will conduct about four different presentations dealing with storytelling across platforms, tablet edition design, the media quartet and the importance of design in today’s multi platform world.
There are still some places left for those wishing to attend the WAN IFRA 6th Tablet & App Summit.
Overview of the event:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/6th-tablet-app-summit
Program overview:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/6th-tablet-app-summit?view=sessions
Mario Garcia’s presentation:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/speakers/mario-garcia-1