iPad launches — a case of when

Well, the long awaited iPad was announced by Apple today. We already receive a tongue-in-cheek response from a LensWork Extended reader asking when we'll have an iPad version of LensWork. Very funny!

Seriously, I've always been well served by a strategy developed way back in the early days of LensWork Publishing. When it comes to internal production issues and efficiencies, we jump on technology as fast as we can and pioneer willingly. But, when it comes to external products, we stay a step or two behind the "bleeding edge," back where the masses are, where technology and a certain comfort level synchronize and live in harmony.

For example, Adobe Acrobat 9 was first introduced over a year ago, and Acrobat 8 a year before that. We still publish LensWork Extended using Acrobat 7 [ we're just now moving to Acrobat 9 with the release of LensWork Extended #87 due out in March 2010] because we know that not everyone updates their Acrobat Reader the minute a new version is announced. We prefer to wait a bit and let our readers catch up to the latest technology when they are comfortable and after all the initial bugs have been worked out. Staying one step behind the cutting edge assures us that our technologically based publications will work, and work comfortably so folks won't have to struggle just to extract the content.

This, by the way, is precisely why we haven't jumped into the ebook publishing world with any of our book publications. We're keeping our eye on the eReader market and hardware developments. We're learning and even experimenting with the software. But we won't release anything until we're sure the technology works like it's supposed to and that our readers have a comfort level with the technology so it's second nature to them.

When to leap into a new technology is, in my opinion, one of the critical issues that needs careful thought. As a child, I was always taught to "look before you leap" — advice I still use in my adulthood. I suppose, however, this might sound like piffle coming from the guy who was podcasting before podcasting was podcasting. (I never said I was going to be rigorously consistent in these blogs!)

Comments

[Dave Kosiur]

Actually, as long as I can transfer my copy of Lenswork Extended from my Mac to an iPad, I'll be a happy puppy!

[Doug Wood]

First things first. I suspect that the tongue-in-cheek comment you referred to in your opening may have been mine. While there was certainly an intended bit of humor with the statement, (the day the iPad was announced) you can also take that as a data point from a subscriber. Whether we like it or not, e-delivery of magazines, newspapers and books will transition to electronic delivery systems. This will be consumer driven and cost will be a key factor in the adoption rate Some folks are predicting the critical mass changeover to occur within the next 10 years. This is really the computer industry we're talking about here, which probably has an obsolescence rate of 6-12 months. My guess, is that all of this may take hold much sooner. It will certainly be interesting to watch.

On a related note, in the late Bill Jay's EndNotes, (#80) he commented that due to the image driven society we live in, there'd be no going back to the literate society of years past. It would be difficult to argue the point. However, with the advent of these new e-readers/tablets, I can't help but wonder if this technology will eventually serve as a driver to get more people reading again. Maybe, maybe not, but it would be a positive outcome.