I heard Gay Alcorn, editor of The Sunday Age, speaking with Jon Faine on 774 ABC radio in Melbourne yesterday as they guest in a weekly feature on media. The part of the discussion which piqued my interest was Alcorn’s ignorance of the new Kindle DX. Alcorn’s comments were at odds with reporting out of the US. They lacked the objectivity of a good reporter. She more or less dismissed the device.
The new Kindle from Amazon, which is not available in Australia, supports books, magazines and newspapers. Indeed, it is well supported by several publishers. The Kindle is certainly showing US publishers how to cut the distance between their journalists and consumers and thereby eliminate many distribution costs.
While it will not suit anyone working for a newspaper publisher to contemplate dramatic change to the business model of your employer, editors and journalists who agree to take part in discussion of any aspect of their work need to be open minded about the disruption of new devices like the Kindle. Alcorn’s dismissiveness of the Kindle gave me reason to take less notice of her other views.
Imagine if the Kindle was here in Australia, now. The newsagency business model would be turned on its ear. We need to contemplate and prepare for such change. Even it it does not unfold this way, the preparation will make us stronger and more focused on pursuing our own future.
One reason newsagents do not engage in contemplation of considerable change is the comments from publishers and journalists working for publishers that the changes in the US and elsewhere are not relevant to Australia.
The Australian reported an article earlier this week that also suggested the short term viability of this device was questionable. It indicated Rupert Murdoch did not support the current proposed business model because of the device cost and the publisher’s margin.
Despite this I personally see mobile phones as the real device for downloads, not another expensive computer peripheral. Downloads are here now, but change will be generational and newsagents will move with the times as they always have.
Fear mongering will always be present, but well informed, proactive retailers will always succeed. We sell phone and music downloads today and it might well be news, books and other content tomorrow. But we will also have real traditional items for people to touch, feel and browse, as well as the virtual copy available on a cold inflexible screen. We may even be a destination where downloads can be printed cheaply for those wanting to transpose virtual to physical copies.
Our store has both physical and on-line sales, with significant on-line growth…but the physical store also remains a strong growing business, nicely complimented with our new technologies. Together both are supporting our customer needs. If this later incorporates kindle type devices perhaps our channel associations/groups may have engaged the publishers to import their own cheaper made Chinese equivalents to support customer needs.
Steve, enjoyed reading your post, a good mix and their will be change and changes.
I wonder if these gizmos will be universally compatable, not one version for one country and another version for another?
I wonder if Australia can develop its own universally compatable made gizmo?
Mark
As an information junkie, my problem is time. Most newspapers are not helping themselves in retaining our attention by lowering quality and content and the timeliness of their news. We spend more time in the car due to traffic, so radio gets our attention. In the current climate most of us are spending more time on the job. Many of us are reluctant to spend work time reading newspapers. There are many work related mandatory online sources to keep abreast of (including this blog). When do we have time to read a newspaper? I personally dont have much time left in my day for the printed newspaper. I will have the same amount of time to read it on a Kindle.