I wonder how much the New York Times paid Apple to be the feature website on the iPad?

Whatever the price I understand their excitement. Newspapers and magazines have been waiting for years now to cash in on digital content. What’s held them back, is that until now, we haven’t been able to experience their online material as we do with print. We want to lounge with a digital magazine, without peripherals. We want to consume media at the breakfast table, on the subway to work, at the park. We want to flip pages with our hands. The iPad presents a platform where this possible and does so with style.

One criticism of the iPad is that it’s a content consuming device rather than a content creator. This detail, however is perfectly alright with the newspaper and magazine companies-providing content, after all, is their game. But, the game has changed. Newspapers and magazines must challenge the status quo and rethink how to deliver content. This means the end of the daily, weekly, monthly subscription models towards a continuous publishing standard, fresh advertising integration techniques, communal reading features, and customized dynamic content.

Sports Illustrated gets the idea (thanks Troy for sending this my way):

For now, the iPad is dependent on how the content providers set up. It’s a huge opportunity and one that could push the newspapers and magazines out of the red and into the black.

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