Can The iPad Save Print Media? What About The Green Factor?

So we are a couple of weeks away from Apple shipping the iPad - yes the long awaited tablet and overpriced "computer" device... let's face it Steve Jobs even asked the question it here is room for a third category? "Millions use smartphones, millions use laptops, is there room fro a third device", as psrt of his keynote address when Apple announced the launch of the iPad.

Will it be more then a iTouch on steroids. Yes and no.

Just as I said a couple years back when they launched the first iPhone, it would revolutionize "mobile" and how we use the internet. And now, I believe that the Apple iPad be the salvation in rescuing the print news media from oblivion or send many tumbling into the abyss.

The iPad itself has a 9.7″ touch screen, with a wi-fi versions that have 3G from Rogers (Canada) and  AT&T (US).  Pricing starts at $499 and tops off a t a whopping $829 for the 3G version with 64gb of memory... don't forget you'll likely need to add an unlimited data plan.

First came The Kindle which revolutionized the book publishing game, but it was never a device as a "advertising" ready game changer, because it lacks color and a high resolution display... but even the larger KindleDX is too expensive at $489 which is the price of the base version of the iPad and still comes with only a black and white low-res reader. Yes, you can have newspapers delivered to the device daily but you can read the text of each article but nothing else, and this were the iPad will become the "game changer". The iPad allows you to read the newspaper as a newspaper, or a magazine as a magazine.  In fact, magazines and newspapers can improve on the paper experience by incorporating video, interactive and multimedia content.

Already publishers have begun to and will be able to create a subscription model for iPad content (Wall Street Journal announced a $17.95 monthly fee) or some which can be partially advertising-supported.  The advertising will be measurable, just as with online advertising.  Although this has not been discussed, it is reasonable to assume that widgets - or other functional ad units - WILL be created.

This will have a big impact on the newspaper and magazine trade, and yes the “paperless office” which has been hyped and discussed for a couple of generations, may come to pass because as paper is portable and easy to read, so is the iPad. Will the iPad and other tablets make paper obsolete, NO... but it will reshape and take important steps forward to a "greener" publishing future. YES!

Fun side of the iPad, just like the iPod that gave users the ability to carry around hundreds of cds worth of music, imagine if we can now carry a thousand books and watch videos at a larger scale that's exactly what the iPad allows consumers to do. Keeping books, movies, pictures, magazines, newspapers and important personal documents on a device that is the right size to view them... just that it's a bigger screen is the bigger deal.

For a much more user friendly explanation and review... luv this!

Microsoft to Open Retails Stores... Does It Look Familiar?

I am hoping this is just a typical "Onion" type piece. But no it's not satire, it's real and it's coming... real soon.

So word has been around for a few months now that Microsoft is going to open "retail" stores... with an enlarging product line, and why not?

Well, according to a PowerPoint presentation leaked last Thursday, it's going to make the Apple Store look downright boring.

The "secret" plans for the stores have been leaked on-line... LOL, since when have we stopped believing in the "LEAKED" line. Please!

Microsoft's confirmed it has hired a former Apple retail executive to help with its store openings. George Blankenship, was a GAP executive before joining Apple, and was in charge of finding the prime locations that Apple picks for its retail stores. His work with Apple goes back to the start of the decade when Apple kicked off its retail endeavor.

Blankenship will be working for Microsoft as a consultant, not as an employee.

Representatives from Microsoft have told CNET.com that some of the stores will be close to existing Apple retail locations, hinting that it isn't afraid to battle Apple head-on.

The Microsoft "flagship" stores will take hte best elements from the Apple Store, Sony Style and other "flagship" stores. The primary focus will be to showcase Windows 7, Xbox, PCTV (Windows Media Center) Surface and Windows Mobile.

See the details from Fast Company and Gizmodo.

Tell me if the plans look familiar? Does this have look of a certain "Fruit" based computer vendor? Okay, Apple owns this concept.

My father taught me early in life; "You can't polish shit, but you can put a bow on it, but in the end it's still shit".