Week 3 - Kick-off & iPad content

Week 3 Kick-off

This class is moving right along. This is a busy week for me, so I am starting early to try to make it through the week easier. We have an Adobe Connect session this week, and along with that interaction there are three pieces of media that will help us prepare our discussion. These are:

-The New Yorker article (Ken Auletta) focusing about the launch of the iPad

-Ken Auletta on Charlie Rose (video) talking about the article and iPad / ebook / publishing

-NPR Fresh Air segment with Ken Auletta about iPad / ebook / publishing

All of the above are one big topic focused on the new world of books and I have already viewed or read them all. I also plan on reading / viewing the following:

-Ch. 1 "Origins of Social Media" The New Influencers (Required)

-Podcast about the "long tail" (Required)

-Ch. 3 "Making the Transition to the Social Web," in Marketing to the Social Web

-Ch. 1 "The Long Tail," in The Long Tail

-Video: The moment when social media became news

-Video: Charlie Rose with Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter

I am going to leave out the last two available readings: The Razorfish Social Influence Marketing Report and The Seven Segment System for Online Marketing. If I can get to these I would plan on reading the Seven Segment System, but only skimming the Razorfish article due to the amount of content (50+ pages). Reading the Long Tail chapter will be interesting after viewing the podcast and getting the professors' take on the topic. I think the readings will be so-so, but the videos are always interesting. I am beginning to enjoy the Charlie Rose program more and more after each viewing. I feel like you get a really good insider's prospective from these clips. I thought this class sounded like a lot of work, but actually blogging after reading or viewing this content is pretty straight forward and kind of fun.

Ken Auletta, the iPad, ebooks, and the Publishing companies

I read, viewed, and listened to all the content for the upcoming Connect session on 5/5/10. There was a lot of redundant information, but I feel like I really have a good understanding about the topic. I think Auletta brought up a very good point about the iPad vs. the Kindle that I alluded to in earlier posts. I think consumers want a device that can do everything, so they don't have to buy a million devices, switch back and forth, convert files because of compatibility issues, etc. Consumers also want COLOR!

I think Bezos's concept of the Kindle might not be completely flawed. Readers want to get involved in the book so heavily that they aren't distracted by anything else, but if the story is that good and there is interaction available with color, it would enhance your experience ten-fold. The content discussed how ebooks will eventually have additional media embedded in the books. If you have an iPad, don't you already have that? You can read a story, if a question pops into your head, you can open up the internet and search for content via wikis, youtube, twitter, google, etc. I believe interactive books would be easier and more enjoyable, but the iPad gives you this flexibility already. I know I do this when watching TV. My laptop is always open. My friends who bought an iPad say that it is next to them almost 100% of the time when they are at home. The iPad makes it so easy to access the internet, your books, pictures, movies, etc. that there is no reason not to have it right there for all your needs.

The publishing companies are done. Why, as consumers, would we want to put up with paying more for a book because it needs to go through a theoretically unnecessary middleman? The editing I completely understand. If authors write straight from their minds to the online retailers, and the quality is poor because the book was not edited, then publishers win. If Amazon or even the authors hire an editor to work directly with/for them, then you don't need the publishing company. The NPR piece gave great insight into this concept for me that the middlemen need to add value to the process or product in order to make me willing to pay more for it. There are a few reasons why people still go to stores for some items:

1. That is how they always have done it and it is almost instinct to do so

2. The selection available right now to tangibly experience and select

3. The interaction with the store associates give them confidence in what they are buying (trust)

Once we get comfortable with shopping online more (or the older generations pass), and we all start to trust the online recommendations, security, etc. there won't be much need for the middlemen. I think the consumers will become more involved with the ebook debate and the Publishers will either need to change their model or they will suffer a painful death trying to keep the old ways alive.