Print publishers are collaborating at an unprecedented level in discussions of new digital strategies, including an industry-wide storefront where users could buy digital issues or subscriptions
without going through iTunes or the App Store. The publishers are concerned -- to put it mildly -- about Apple's anticipated tablet computer and other e-reader devices.
If the Apple
tablet that many expect early next year proves popular for flipping through tailored editions of magazines and newspapers, Apple's iTunes or App Store could become chokepoints between publishers
and their readers.
As proposed, an industry storefront would let publishers retain information about subscribers and keep full control over pricing. "The storefront would live on the
Apple tablet and you'd have an icon for this store where you could get your magazines or newspapers," says an insider. The storefront is one of a number of different initiatives on the drawing
board, which would involve consumer publishers sharing resources in a way they never would have in the old-fashioned print-only world, say executives.
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