Sam OliverMurdoch confirmed during a speech in New York on Tuesday that his News Corp. publication will be offered on Apple's forthcoming iPad. According to a report in the Journal, the executive also gave insight into Apple's secretive practices as the paper has had access to a pre-release iPad.
"In fact, we've been allowed to work on one, and it's under padlock and key. The key is turned by Apple every night," Murdoch was quoted as saying. "But we will be on that with The Wall Street Journal."
The Journal and Apple had an iPad-related altercation last month when editor Alan Murray posted to Twitter from the device when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs visited the paper to pitch its e-reader capabilities. That incident reportedly upset Jobs, who was said to be "furious" and allegedly had the editor delete the post. In a subsequent e-mail, Murray would not confirm the incident, but merely said that "Apple's general paranoia about news coverage is truly extraordinary."
The Journal is yet another high-profile publication confirmed for the iPad. At the device's unveiling in January, a New York Times application replicating the daily edition of the paper was prominently featured. And last week, the Associated Press revealed it too is building an app for the iPad based on a subscription model.
How much to charge for content on the iPad and other devices remains a point of contention. While reports have suggested that Times executives cannot agree whether to charge $10 per month or closer to $30 per month, the Journal began charging users of its iPhone application late last year. Murdoch has previously said that News Corp. intends to charge for all of its online news sites, noting that "quality journalism is not cheap."
The executive added Tuesday that he believes the iPad is just the first in a number of devices that many will use to read newspapers on a daily basis. He reportedly said there will be a "half dozen or more" introduced in the next year.
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69 Comments
These are just the sort of safeguards necessary to protect the intellectual property, and who wouldn't be irate if a weak link in the chain of confidentiality was exposed?
While every newpaper along with any other publication for that matter will be able to be read on the iPad , the question still remains: Will they be with or without flash content as were all the blank portions of the NY Times during iPad's unveiling by SJ?
This is going to be interesting with concern to Flash not being available on iPad and majority of sites using Flash as standard at present.
I wonder who is going to 'blink first' Apple or potential clients who use Flash. Believe me this is not simple answer, since Apple have massive presence in the media industry and have shown to be winner with majority of his media focused products (exception is Apple TV, which really just requires some focus by Apple and not just an hobby).
I will see what happens before I purchase an iPad, since specs could change rather quickly depending on the customer interest, potential clients wiliness to accept no Flash approach and pricing of iPad and media content.
While every newpaper along with any other publication for that matter will be able to be read on the iPad , the question still remains: Will they be with or without flash content as were all the blank portions of the NY Times during iPad's unveiling by SJ?
Companies are already proclaiming they are making versions of their media and sites without flash just for the iPhone / iPad, yesterday VIrgin said they are launch their various sites without flash just for that reason, and they have a damn lot of companies and media.
I bet this is going to open a whole new world to comic and comic book publishers. Can't wait to see what happens. To have the complete Calvin and Hobbs collection on an iPad would be nice.