Apple iPad closer in design elements to print than web
The Apple iPad can preserve “some of the traditional features of printed newspapers”, according to an international magazine designer.
Jacek Utko, design director at Bonnier Business Press, said that the iPad “is not just another wi-fi device or pdf browser” when speaking at the AOP Digital Publishing Summit today (15 October).
The iPad was the focus of much debate at the gathering of business and consumer publishers. Utko said that it leant itself much more to print design than web design and this should help traditional publishers leverage the device.
However, Tim Brooks, managing director of Guardian News & Media pointed out that publishers “have not learnt the language of tablet design yet” and there were too few of the devices currently in circulation to extrapolate any meaningful data on user trends and behaviour.
However, all agreed on the importance of the iPad and other tablets as one of the key plans for the future of paid-for content.
Mark Wood, UK CEO of Future Publishing, said: “The iPad is a break-through … we are seeing a change in the commercial model because people are prepared to pay the cover price of a single issue or subscription fees.”
Future Publishing has launched its T3 gadget magazine on the iPad and has lined up Audi and Intel as advertisers for the first “edition”, priced at £3.99.
Tablet sales are forecast to climb as high as 66m by 2012, according to investment firm Piper Jaffray.