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The iPad: A game changer for newspapers?

Posted in: Newspapers, by: Mario Garcia

Jan 29, 2010
04:47 PM

It’s here. The supposed game changer and savior of the newspaper industry. I’ll admit it, as big of an Apple and gadget fan as I am, I’m a bit underwhelmed by the iPad. With all the hype leading up to the announcement I guess I was expecting more, maybe some 3D hologram like in Star Wars, or at least a webcam. No Flash-capabilities. No GPS (except on the 3G version). And a price tag that will make you think twice about adding something that gives you essentially what you get from your laptop and iPhone. This is the game changer? Really?

Then I realized that the iPad was never supposed to be the game changer for newspapers. Not the hardware part of it anyway. The iPad is a gateway. An opportunity for the newspapers to try something new and different. The product can only be a game changer if the newspapers get in the game themselves. And getting in the game doesn’t mean getting a team to create a “cool” way to flip pages on the screen and getting readers to pay for a “different reading experience.” Or trying to convince advertisers that their ads will display as colorful and vibrant on the iPad as they do in print. It’s this kind of level 1 thinking that helped newspapers miss out on several opportunities in the early days of the web.

Getting in the game means becoming app creators, not just a newspaper that wants to have an app of their print product on the iPad. Be creative. Be bold. Be different. To get users to BUY your apps they have to be entertaining and useful. Newspapers should set that standard for the apps they create and sell. The benefits have to be obvious. What newspapers have going for them is their brand, their archives of data and their resources. How can they leverage that to create apps that users need and that they can put a premium on?

Apple’s motto is “there’s an app for that.” All newspapers have to do is figure out what “that” is for their readers and the consumers.  And remember, “that” is not a version of the print product on a 9.7 inch screen. The model for this thinking already exists, although not exactly in a digital environment. When we think U-Haul we historically think of the beat up trucks you can rent from the corner gas station. But have you been to a U-Haul lately? U-Haul has completely transformed itself from a truck rental company to a do-it-yourself moving company. Besides renting the truck now, you can buy boxes, tape, rent dolly’s, and they even offer self-storage. U-Haul has considered everything needed to move and provided it for consumers. They figured out the “that” in relation to what they do—moves.  And, yes, I’m sure there’s a U-Haul app too.

If newspapers are not thinking like this, like starting now, I’m sure some kid, bored with college algebra, is sitting around thinking of what they could do to make some money with this new iPad. And even with limited resources and without the benefit of an established and trusted brand they’ll think of it and get it out there, and newspaper will say “that should be us doing that “ (see Craigslist or Monster.com).

Yes, the iPad is absolutely a game changer. It presents a new opportunity for newspapers. A chance to re-evaluate their relevance to a new type of consumer. Just as they have done in the past. Steve Jobs and the people at Apple did their job, now it’s time to do ours.

I still wish it had a webcam though.

Good iPad reads:

Mario Garcia (Dad): iPad possibilities: click, pay, read
Khoi Vinh: Notes on iPad
Neiman Journalism Lab: So it’s called the iPad: Five thoughts on how it will (and won’t) change the game for news organizations
Alan Mutter: How media can profit from new iPad

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