Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, spoke at the Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD Conference and had plenty to say. One thing said loud and clear was the belief that media should be paid and and has value. "And he offered publishers advice: 'The biggest lesson Apple has learned is: Price it aggressively and go for volume. And anytime we haven’t done that, we’ve had more attenuated success.'" That certainly has been the strategy behind the iTune platform which has led to wide usage and revenue.
The iPad and other digital devices offers consumers a faster, better distribution platform for print content. When it is physically printed, its information gets quickly old; we live in an age of now and a need for the most current updates. Offering newspaper and magazine content on a digital window encourages consumers to purchase to get access, provided that this info is not available free elsewhere. Too much free content kills the pay model.
