Entries for month: February 2010
Super Bowl spikes HD demand: how can newspapers get in the HD game?
08 February 2010 · By Don Oldham
An audience of 100 million watched the Indianapolis Colts battle the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. Most viewed the game on a large flat-screen TV and more than ever on an HDTV. This marked the fifth straight year that the Super Bowl spiked the sales of HDTVs. Last year, more than 2.5 million HDTV units were sold before the Super Bowl. Fans want a hi-def realistic viewing experience at home and even at the game. Sun Life Stadium, the site of this year's game, is outfitted with more than 2,000 flat-screen HDTV monitors. Next year's site, the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium, boasts the world's largest HDTV, a 25,000-square-foot screen spanning more than half the field. Clearly, consumers want the highest quality they can get - at home or away.
In a world of HD expectations, how can newspapers hope to engage customers?
One answer may be another HD: "High-Design." High-design is a higher quality presentation of content. A newspaper can deliver an HD customer experience through magazine quality layout, color and typography across all of its channels – print, Web, e-readers. In a world of HD expectations, high-design is a basic weapon for publishers to fight back and win the attention of the audience.
...[more]Another bite at the Apple: why the iPad has already changed your world
02 February 2010 · By Steve Nilan
When Steve Jobs held up the shiny new Apple, he unlocked a shiny new multi-billion dollar market for publishers.
The Apple iPad's unveiling was Jobs' slickest premiere to date. It didn't matter that there wasn't a huge technology breakthrough. In fact, the techno-blogs are burning up over what the iPad 1.0 left out. Even the name was predicted by many. According to The Economist, an Irish bookmaker had the favourites as iSlate and iPad. The first batches of iPads won't even hit the stores until April. The only big surprise was the lower than expected price.
So why did the earth seem to stand still and the Internet stagger under the weight of the announcement?
...[more]
