WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

One year ago I produced a temporary blog about the launch of the first iPad.

I went to San Francisco for the launch and since then the tablets became the media topic of the year.

So, re-reading now the (Spanish) entries of my TABLETMANIA blog I realized that 110 % of what I said, I am sorry, was right!

Not bad for something new and received by many gurus as a DOA, “death on arrival”, product.

They were wrong.

I was right.

So, now that tomorrow Apple is going to present the new iPad2 I decided to update the entries of the blog of try to find editors for an instant book in Spanish and English

Any leads?

If yes, please contact me at: giner@btinternet.com

illustration by Luis Graena

The founder of Starbucks (7500 self-operated and 5500 licensed stores in 39 countries) explains the change of the logo, quite better than The New York Time’s laid back design critic Steven Heller.

Designed first by Terry Heckler, the iconic mermaid that beckons coffee drinkers was based of a classic 15th century Norse woodcut

By removing the words “Starbucks” and “coffee” from its green logo, Starbucks joints Apple or Nike with a no-name logo.

As The Guardian says: “this could help as the chain expands into countries that not only have a different language but a different alphabet.”

Only brands with such a great personality can do it.

Well done and really well explained.

Who is Jesse Angelo?: The leader of this project is a former managing editor of the New York Post, a tabloid that has been losing a lot of money since Murdoch bought this competitor of the New York Daily News. Angelo is a Harvard graduate and lifelong New Yorker. He began as a freelance reporter for The Post’s Page Six in 1999. He was hired full time as a news reporter, then moved to the business desk, where he quickly rose to deputy business editor. Angelo was named metropolitan editor in April 2001.“

Murdoch on The Daily one week ago: “I’m starting a paper in six weeks. A brand new paper. It will be a bit like the New York Post. But it will be national. It will only be seen on tablets. It will only employ journalists – and maybe eight to 10 technicians.”

Promotion: Amazing. Learning from Apple, News Corporation is almost silent, but the viral marketing is going crazy. Serious newspapers like The Guardian have been trap in this noisy silent-strategy publishing rumors with no facts.

Is this paper another example of “Dead On Arrival”?: That’s the main view of all the blind experts, people that have not seen anything and are killing the baby before birth.

My own take: Give them a chance. They have will, money, resources and talent to try this only-tablet national publication. If Murdoch wins, expect a lot of replicas around the world. If he fails, all of us will learn how to do it better. So, let’s wait and see. My only concern is that the time has been too short: a huge project like this cannot be done in six months.

You know…

It will not fly.

It’s a flop.

It’s just crap!

I am returning my iPad.

Well, the last handbook from the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA) has good news for us the tablet fans.

We are not a minority.

We are not crazy.

We are not alone.

We are not the exception.

We were right!

Almost 60% of the US consumers plan to buy a tablet within the next 3 years.

Not only iPads but just tablets.

The mobile media revolution is over us.

Another reason not to miss the INMA/NIEMAN/INNOVATION Harvard Tablet Summit.

Cambridge, December 2-3, 2010.

A Worldwide Summit to learn, master and share new ideas.

Be there!

Apple shares were up all day, from $247 at the opening of the market to $250 before the beginning of the Special Event.

At the end of the conference, the shares were around $249.

So, no big news, no big changes.

Some “instant analysis”:

Jeff Jarwis on Twitter: “Just ordered my Apple TV. $99. What the hell.”

Philip Elmer-DeWitt (FORTUNE): “No Beatles. No Apple-branded TV set. No updated iPhone 4. But all-in-all, a solid fall product launch with more news to chew on than we’ve seen since 2007, when the iPod touch first appeared.”

Marco Tabini (PC WORLD): “Apple didn’t just roll out new products during its Wednesday press event; it also rattled off some impressive statistics about its mobile, music, and retail efforts.”

Chris Cameron (READWRITEWEB): “Wow! That sure was a lot from Apple. Those new iPods look pretty slick, especially the new square Nanos that look like a watch-face (some one please make a watch strap accessory!). Ping and iTunes 10 should be fun to play around with, and I don’t know about the rest of you but that $99 Apple TV looks very enticing. Oh yeah, and iOS 4.1 looks cool too – the HDR photos is sure to excite the photo bugs out there.”

Dylan F. Tweney (WIRED): “In a sign that its television “hobby” has turned into serious business, Apple announced an aggressively-priced new set-top box that takes aim at the heart of the cable TV and DVD rental industries.”

Peter Kafka (ALL THINGS DIGITAL): “Apple has been working on an iTunes update that’s all about social, not streaming. But rather than do the obvious thing — create a system that links up with existing social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace — Steve Jobs has gone ahead and created yet another social network, one designed expressly for iTunes users.”

Jason D. O’Grady (ZDNET): “Apple held its highly-anticipated press event today, and for the first time in recent memory, streamed it live via the Web. Cult of Mac reports that Apple decided to stream the event to test its new new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, slated to go into full operation later this year. (The $1 billion data center is one of the largest ever built).”

And the final words from Steve Jobs (APPLE): “Thank you for coming. I hope you’re as excited about this stuff as we are … and we’ll see you soon.”

Yesterday ViewSonic unveiled the ViewPad 7, not a very good one.

And tomorrow SAMSUNG will present its first Android 7-inch Galaxy Tablet (the iPad is 9.7 inches)

So iPad competitors are here and the winners will be… you and me, the consumers.

Expect immediate reaction from Apple.

And a new, better and cheaper iPad model very soon.

More competition is always good.

Another reason not to miss the INMA/NIEMAN/INNOVATION Harvard Tablet Summit.

Cambridge, December 2-3, 2010.

A Worldwide Summit to learn, master and share new ideas.

Be there!

The suppliers are matching the high volume of iPad buyers, so two more research companies are increasing in a very dramatic way their expected sales numbers:

iSuppli had estimated that the iPad would shift 7 million units in 2010.

Now gives a figure of 12.9 million units.

And ABI Research has tripled its original estimate, now expecting 11 million units.

Remember that Apple sold three million iPad 80 days after its launch.

And this huge demand delayed the iPad launch outside USA.

My own estimation is that Apple is selling right now two million iPad a month.

And will end the year around the 15 million mark.

These are fantastic numbers.

One reason?

Schools and universities are becoming big markets.

What’s next?

Lower prices and more iPad models.

Another reason not to miss the INMA/NIEMAN/INNOVATION Harvard Tablet Summit.

Cambridge, December 2-3, 2010.

A Worldwide Summit to learn, master and share new ideas.

Be there!

The New York Times David Carr makes the point about how Consumer Reports i in the “credibility business”

“It was a big week for Consumer Reports and a reminder that media that is unsupported by advertising can often have an impact that more traditional publishing, or even the most tech-savvy, enterprises don’t. With 3.9 million subscribers to its magazine and 3.3 million paid subscribers to its Web site, Consumer Reports has a combined paid circulation of 7.2 million, up 33 percent since 2004.”

—

“If you can’t attack the message, attack the messenger. That’s a maxim of modern public relations, one that’s on display every day in Washington, on cable TV and, last Friday, on stage in Cupertino. But, with its long history and reputation for efficacy, Consumer Reports is the opposite of a juicy target.”

As Rob Curley said today in Twitter: Bless Consumer Reports!

Steve Jobs was seen “arrogant”, “defensive” and “upset” and the Antennagate is not over.

Some reactions:

Larry Magid (Huffington Post) wrote that while he was “pretty pleased” with Apple’s response to a relatively minor issue, he thought Jobs sounded unnecessarily defensive. “Truth be told, iPhone users can get a signal just as well as with any other phone as long they don’t put their finger on the little crack in the lower left side of the wraparound metal antenna.”

Jason Schwarz (Seeking Alpha): “Traditional media outlets got duped. The wild west of the blogosphere had a few isolated reports of iPhone 4 antenna issues and then Consumer Reports released a suspect report that was contrary to majority experience and big media everywhere jumped on board. False perception overtook reality. Kudos to Steve Jobs for putting the small minority in its place. Big media outlets should have done a better job of filtering this news for their customers. Actual statistics show 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called AppleCare to complain about antenna issues and only 1.7% of buyers have returned the phone. The media created a crisis that did not exist as I explained in this week’s CNBC interview.”

Ben Parr (Masahable/Apple): “Apple didn’t come out of this unscathed, though. They had to take a beating from the media first. It doesn’t matter whether “antennagate” was overblown or not anymore: The damage has been done.

1. There will be financial damage (but not much). The free cases, free bumpers and iPhone returns will cost the company some revenue. However, we predict that the damage will be minimal in the face of overall profits. Expect record quarters — just not as high as they could have potentially been.

2. Apple is no longer perfect. That’s not to say that they ever were, but most people blamed AT&T for many of the iPhone’s problems rather than blaming the Apple team. Now, the door is open to criticism of Apple and its future products after Jobs’ admission of imperfection.

3. Future products will undergo more scrutiny. The media is just going to be more critical of Apple, at least for a while.

Consumers will likely remember “antennagate” when they purchase their next iPhone or iPad, and this episode might make them more cautious when they consider buying their next Apple product.”

Apple’s stock seesawed throughout the day and ended down $1.55, or -0.6%.

UPDATE:

More reactions here including Consumer Reports saying:

“We look forward to a long-term fix from Apple.

As things currently stand, the iPhone 4 is still not one of our Recommended models.”

Oh, oh…

Philip Elmer-DeWitt asks in his blog the first question.

Yes es my answer, but a magic performance of Steve Jobs (better than ever, a study case on how to conduct a press conference after three weeks of terrible crisis miss-management) will not end the real problem.

The free cases either.

What the Apple fans want is a perfect iPhone.

A better one.

This what they were told, this is what they are asking for.

So, again, this is another example of how risky is to fuel high expectations… and paying the consequences of under delivering.

In summary:

A humble Steve Jobs.

Really upset by the “media over reaction”

That ended confronting and challenging two big news organizations: Bloomberg (BusinessWeek) and The New York Times.

They will respond.

And Apple will have, bad for them, better for us, a more rough watchdog coverage.

When you become too big, to powerful, you could end as an arrogant organization.

A lesson for Apple.

Good news for all of us.

UPDATE:

Peter, a reader of The New York Times writes the most recommended comment, a perfect summary of this story:

Jobs adds: “This has been blown so out of proportion that it is incredible.” Not because of the antenna issue, but because of how he and Apple handled the problem from the start. If they had just come clean at the beginning, offered the free cases, didn’t blame the users for holding it wrong, didn’t try to argue that it was a software issue, and so on, perhaps the press coverage would have been a bit more flattering. But Apple, and Jobs in particular, suffer from an extreme overabundance of hubris, and we love to watch the mighty and arrogant take a fall – the press has just been playing to our insatiable appetite for Schadenfreude. Hopefully this has shown Apple that the press won’t always be their faithful cheerleaders.

Brilliant!