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Publishers' choice: Will the iPad be the hero or villain of the comic book industry?
Music piracy rose to epidemic levels at the beginning of the 2000s (although, according to Wired, those days are now over). There were many causes of this growth in piracy -- high speed internet access, easy-to-use P2P software -- but perhaps the biggest accelerator of music piracy was two-fold: the emergence of devices that allowed us to easily copy and then consume music (namely CD-burners, and then MP3 players) away from the computers we downloaded them on, and the reluctance of the record industry to embrace new technology. In other words, once people had the hardware for consuming digital music, the record industry failed to give listeners the digital music they wanted at a reasonable price and in an easy-to-access centralized location. The same factors that lead to mass music piracy are now in place to disrupt another flavor of media -- comic books. The excitement and media attention around Free Comic Book Day yesterday shouldn't deceive anybody about the fact that there's trouble around the corner. Why is the comic book industry set for a piracy tipping point? After all, people have been able to illegally download comic books on the Web for years. Why should it suddenly accelerate? One factor: the iPad. Before the launch of the iPad, people who illegally download comic books read them on their computers -- compared to a printed comic book, a decidedly inferior experience. However, with the advent of the iPad and the tablet form factor that closely mimics a comic book, Apple's tablet is liberating illegal comic book downloads from the computer monitor and allowing them to be consumed in a much more appealing and natural way. I first noticed this last year when I was talking to a friend who was complaining that his local comic shop was out of a specific issue of a comic book he wanted. I suggested to him that he buy it through Marvel's iPad app. However, Marvel's app didn't offer the issue in question. That's when another friend asked what issue the first friend wanted. The next day, friend #2 emailed him a CBR (Comic Book Archive) file containing a pirated copy of not only that issue, but every Marvel comic that shipped that week.
Apple developing iNewsstand to support iBooks?
Apple has been doing what it can to bring publications of a more periodical nature to the iPad and other iDevices, but hasn't exactly offered a stunning portfolio of papers and such. That's set to change according to a Bloomberg report citing the ever popular people "familiar with the matter," indicating that Apple is currently building partnerships with various parties to develop pricing strategies to bring that content to consumers. This will supposedly be presented through a new storefront especially dedicated to periodical content, which could be launching as soon as a few months from now -- though there is also speculation that Apple will sit on it until the launch of a next-gen iPad. There are a number of roadblocks, including an apparent resistance from Apple to release the specific sales metrics that publishers want to tailor their content. Oh, and there's the traditional 30 percent cut of revenue rubbing some the wrong way. Will Apple succeed in bringing all these pubs together? It's certainly succeeded at herding the music industry...
