So here we are more than halfway through the year and over 5 million iPads sold. Consumers are rapidly snatching up all the available iPad and iPhone 4.0 devices as fast as Apple can make them. As a publishing professional you’re asking yourself what does this mean to me? What impact does this have on the publishing industry and how do we as publishers get involved?

Released to the public in April 2010, the iPad platform (aka iOS 4) has taken digital publishing by storm. If you have used an iPad then you already know that it is more than a big iPhone, digital book, Internet browser, or device for accessing digital media. If you’ve been following my articles you’d know that this is a revolutionary device and it’s causing a paradigm shift in several information industries.

Users of the iPad are looking to you as publishers to deliver content they desire in this new medium. Of course this is not just limited to Apple products but it is also pending the release of new digital devices and smart phones by other companies – who are scrambling to catch up with the release of their smart phone technologies and tablet devices. So how do you get your content into your reader’s hands?

Smart media devices all support Internet-based browser technologies and can access content online that is tailored to these devices with technologies such as HTML 5, CSS three, JavaScript. Simply adding a bit of tagging and creating custom style sheets for your website will transform content for these mobile devices. Open source publishing platforms such as WordPress and Joomla can use templates designed to optimize the display of the content.

AppleScript, Automator, and MacOS X Services can also be used to automate and build web ready content. Using Apple’s free development tools a competent web developer could build a web-based applications with a Dashcode. DashCode apps can then be converted into xCode – the application that is used to create native MacOS X and and iOS applications for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple has created its own digital reader for the iOS devices called iBooks. The iBooks Store is used to publish digital books in the ePub format. Applications like InDesign can export pages into this format. You can distribute your iBook publications from your own website or distribute for profit through Apple’s iBook store. Resources like lulu.com available to help you self publish.

Starting at $99 a year, you can become an Apple developer and be able to publish applications to actual devices like the IPad. Once you become a registered developer and pay the fees you can submit applications for approval to Apple’s App Store. If Apple approves your iPhone app, they will distribute the application through the App Store.

Native iOS apps are written using Objective-C. There are many resources available to get you up to speed. Several books have been published in physical and digital form that teach users to build apps. Online resources available such as Lynda.com and Apple’s developer website offer learning materials online.

If you’re not already an experienced programmer learning Objective-C has a steep learning curve. The TapLynx framework, among others, help build basic apps in xCode. Frameworks will help you build real iOS applications without having to learn Objective-C.

You can also look into hiring a developer to help you build a app. Simple applications range from $2500 to $10,000. More sophisticated apps take many months to develop and will cost even more. Experienced developers can be hired for between $80 US and $160 US to either consult or develop your application. Single dedicated developer can cost a around $6500 US per month.

It is both an exciting time and a nerve-racking time. Publishing on ink on paper has been under pressure for last 15 years or so. The Internet has eroded any kind of profit-making and now the iPad presents an opportunity to deliver content to an end user who will be willing to pay for that content. Or at the very least advertisers will want the opportunity deliver their message along with your content. If you’re producing a magazine, newspaper, the list of services or even a real estate listing the iPad is proving to be a revolutionary publishing platform. You owe it to yourself to explore the opportunity for yourself and your clients.

Apple announced the iPad today. It is a hybrid of an iPod Touch, Amazon Kindle and a Mac. At long last we have our beloved Newton and a graphic tablet all rolled into one…
Early reviews are mixed with many people impressed and some pundits less than enthusiastic. The latter critical that Apple has modified and added their iWork apps to the device. Here’s a bit of office productivity and yet they would complain if there was no productivity apps.

Apple is now the “world’s largest mobile devices company in the world” – bigger than Nokia, Samsung and Sony (in the mobile devices space.) Apple introduced the world’s first modern laptop in 1991 with the introduction of the PowerBook – with a raised keyboard, palm rests, an integrated pointing device (track ball). The Newton PDA introduced in 1993 and in 2007 Apple reinvented the cell phone with the iPhone.

The iPad represents a third category, according to Apple, between the smart phone and portable laptop. They are insisting that this middle categories key tasks must be better than smart phones or laptops. The key tasks are browsing, email, photo sharing, video, music, games and ebooks. NetBooks, according to Steve Jobs, aren’t better at anything – they’re just cheaper PCs. The iPad in a magical and revolutionary device.

I have been dragging around laptops to meetings since 1991 – apologizing to attendees while waiting for the laptop to start up. Next I got a Newton and apologized while I had to reenter the cursive writing because I hadn’t learned to “write” correctly. Finally moving to a Palm Pilot as my main PDA. Since that time I have continued to use spiral bound paper note books. They’re easy to start – simply open and start writing. However searching the content means flipping physical pages and it’s difficult to email – unless you tear out the page and scan it as an image.

That all changed when the MacBook Air and iPhone came out. The Notes app, contacts, calendar and IMAP email and syncing with Mobile Me is totally productivity for me! I can leave the office and captain my whole business with my iPhone – from the back seat of a street car. I have the latest iMac on my desk, a MacBook Pro 13 in my briefcase as well as a couple of Xserves. The iPad is the device that we have all been longing for. Productivity and portability. With 3G access I can even run my business from the cottage (thanks to iPhone tethering.)

Let’s be honest the iPhone is too small to read a book on – most annoying if you wear bifocals! Too small for a crossword puzzle and now you and your loved one can enjoy a movie together. Newspapers and magazines can now concentrate on delivering content in a new media way. Gone is the static presentation of news and current affairs. I will miss the books from the sixties that say “one day man will land on the moon” but now you’ll have instant access to wikipedias take on Man’s exploration of the heavens. News will now update as quickly as your FaceBook and Twitter feeds.

We actually have 5 iPhones – my main cell, my partner Carol’s and two iPhones to “pass back” for the grandkids to play games on. I’ve had an iPhone since November 2007 (imported from San Francisco) and gladly sold my Blackberry for $25 at a garage sale. Yes, I’ve been annoyed by all of the iPhone’s short comings – What!? No copy and paste!? Hey! I used to have three Newtons so I know about patience. But at the end of the day, the iPad is a unix driven device that you can easily carry around and watch movies while you’re on break! Don’t worry Speck will make an awesome case and OtterBox will make a weather proof case for the bathtub. In the meantime use a ZipLock bag to keep it dry.

iPad Features:

• high-resolution, 9.7 inch LED-backlit, IPS display
• wide, 178° viewing angle
• Multi-Touch screen
• just 1.5 lbs and 0.5 inches thin
• 10 hour lithium polymer battery technology
• Wi-Fi, built-in 802.11n and BlueTooth + EDR
• available in an unlocked 3G model using GSM micros SIMs
• 1GHz A4 chip inside iPad was custom-designed by Apple
• choice of 16, 32 or 64GB flash storage
• 30-pin dock connector, charge or connect the Camera Connection Kit or the Keyboard Dock
• Microphone & powerful, built-in speaker produces a full, rich sound
• Accelerometer & Compass (GPS)
• iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store
• iWork productivity applications, Keynote, Numbers and Pages
• Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, YouTube, iPod, iTunes, App Store, iBooks, Maps, Notes, Calendar and Contacts
• $499 – $839 USD