So it’s called the iPad: Five thoughts on how it will (and won’t) change the game for news organizations

By Joshua Benton

So, it’s official: There is an Apple tablet, and it’s called the iPad. And, at least to these Apple-friendly eyes, it looks really, really nice. I can feel my credit card getting warm already.

But for future-of-journalism junkies, the question was never whether or not Apple could come up with a sexy new device. The question was whether it could have an impact on the news business. Phrases like “save the news business” and “alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era” have been tossed around an awful lot in the last few months.

So what did we learn today about how the iPad will impact journalism? Here are my first thoughts:

— It will have a real impact on consumer behavior. This thing’s going to be popular — I suspect it’ll sell at multiples of the Kindle (assuming Amazon ever decides to tell us how many Kindles they sell). And the form factor will be attractive in a lot of contexts, and that’ll likely increase the amount of news and information that people consume. Anyone who loved the Kindle will love this (unless they’re e-Ink junkies), and the iPad will also appeal to big crowds who would have never thought of a Kindle — gamers, mobile workers, YouTube addicts, and more.

— I don’t think the iPad changes the paid-content equation. The dream of the news business is that a device will come along that will convince people to pay for digital news. That was the dream of the Kindle — people will pay $10 a month to “subscribe” to all the news we give away for free on the web! And while that dream has dimmed on the Kindle, the same ideas kept popping up on the road to the iPad. As Brad Stone and Stephanie Clifford wrote in the Times: Keep reading »

New York Times, still uncertain on charging, sets seven digital priorities

By Zachary M. Seward

While the New York Times newsroom deals with another round of job cuts, one area of the newspaper is actually growing. Fourteen jobs are currently open at the Times website, most of them for software developers and engineers.

On Thursday, the digital staff gathered for an “all hands” meeting at TheTimesCenter to hear updates on various initiatives in advertising, business development, and content. Hanging in the air was the still unresolved question of whether the Times will charge for portions of its website. (Some readers were clamoring for that yesterday.)

Denise Warren, general manager of NYTimes.com, said the company is in “strategic limbo,” and Bill Keller, the executive editor, acknowledged frustration over the delay:

…everyone feels a little paralyzed by the unresolved question of pay versus free. I let Denise edit my remarks and she edited out expressions like “quagmire” and “time suck.” But we all feel a little sense of frustration about how long that’s taking, even though I think we understand that if it were a theological decision, it would be made by now. But, unfortunately, it’s a business decision.

Keep reading »