Salvation for Print

Print to Pixels, originally for Folio:

The iPad is coming.

It brings with it the opportunity to rescue print, or at the very least the companies that currently publish newspapers, magazines and books.

The new platform offers a pretty cool opportunity for publishers to create a product that combines the interactivity of the web and the narrative nature of the printed page.

Presumably, the user would be able to download an application or an individual copy through iTunes and begin reading right away.

If that's the case media companies have an opportunity to make a ton of money.

Traditionally, production and distribution of printed materials have been one of the biggest expenditures. Some of those costs were recouped by subscriptions and individual copy sales.

However, in the age of the internet people started reading content for free online and stopped paying for news. Leaving distrbution costs to be paid by a smaller audience and declining ad rates that were tied to circulation.

The transition from print to pixels could save magazines and newspapers that were left for dead. They have an opportunity to shed their 20th century distribution network and again get people paying for news.

The challenge now becomes producing enough interesting content to keep readers engaged. The internet and TV aren't across the room anymore, they're on the same device.

The only way of doing that is hiring lots of good writers, editors, designers and artists