This presentation is the work of Freek Bijl, a Dutch internet strategist, and in it he makes a lot of very interesting points.
His starting point is this: Apple has already changed the music industry and the cellphone industry. How might it change publishing, particularly newspapers and magazines?
The answer lies in a three-fold triangle of needs: distribution (of content), a business model (whereby publishers can charge for content), and usability (so that readers can read things without fuss). All these can be fixed if Apple applies the success of the iPhone and the App Store to a tablet-like device and a new publishing store.
Bijl’s argument is persuasive and makes a lot of sense. My only concern is that Apple likes to surprise people; perhaps its ideas for changing publishing might be even more radical than he predicts.
What do you think of Bijl’s argument? Would you buy your news and magazine content via a “news store” on your iPhone or Apple tablet? And would you be prepared to pay the same, or less, or more than you presently pay for a printed newspaper?