Australia's next Super 'Hand' Model
Three days before Apple’s highly anticipated iPad became available in Australian stores, a good friend from commercialisation advisers Pyksis introduced me to the Founder and Editor or MacTalk, Australia’s leading online forum for all things Apple related.
The name of this digital media maven and Apple acolyte is Anthony Agius and his website MacTalk.com.au attracts approximately two million unique visitors per month, absolutely eclipsing the competition (including Australian Macworld).
Agius had an endearing story to tell, which involved him travelling to New York and adopting a series of fake identities to snap up 20 iPads on the weekend of their US launch, several months before the much coveted device became available to Australian early-adopters.
Together, we spent the afternoon discussing the new device and its possible commercial applications.
Below is a brief video of this beer and caffeine fuelled chat, filmed by the said friend from Pyksis using an iPhone. (The said friend’s name is Mark Gustowski, by the way, and he clearly has a very steady hand). The final clip needed to be edited slightly post interview, hence the awkwardly inserted close-ups of the iPad screen (added later).
During this discussion we barely scratched the surface. But the afternoon got me thinking.
I have already posed the question in a previous post, ‘Could small businesses become the next media barons?‘ A more timely question might be, ‘Does your business have knowledge that it could monetise on the iPad?’ Well, does it?
Anthony Agius – Monetising the iPad
andyley said on June 8, 2010
What about Anthill? Are there plans or at least thoughts about a digital mag on the horizon?
I recently had a go flicking through the Wired app for iPad... whilst I don't care much for the over-design over-ad look and feel for the first edition - I loved the experience. To me after flicking through the entire thing I had only one thought - Make these monthly editions a little cheaper and I'm in!
Whilst the web is great for up to the now news and reports there is still so much to be said for read-it-later, catch up editions. In fact since I discovered Instapaper - I hardly read anything live on the web... Is it really a stretch to say that digital mags can't capitalise on read-it-later trends?
James Tuckerman - Anthill Mag said on June 9, 2010
When we 'scaled back on print' (as we originally phrased it), our plan was to produce annual editions (something really glossy and spectacular - a work of art).
We figured that print magazines were slowly evolving into lifestyle products (the same way that people still ride horses for pleasure, when getting around in a car is much more efficient).
Of course, we've been having so much fun online that this never came about.
We then began to start the planning process for creating eBooks - special topic editions that could be easily downloaded online. The strategy was not to charge money but to gather email addresses, as a way to increase site traffic by bringing new people into the Anthill community. We have a few of these eBooks half completed.
Again, we put this on hold to see what Apple would deliver with its iPad.
I suspect that we might find ourselves back at square one - creating something spectacular (as a work of art) that is also compatible to the iPad. This might sound like a contradiction but I suspect that the iPad is far better suited to extravagant design PLUS we can seed the online edition with links etc.
The future, as I see it, is one where the old subscription model will remain but the monthly cost will be far lower - micro-payments structure - maybe 99 cents or $1.99 a month. That's the sort of dollar value that most of us would not think twice about.
Watch this space!