Mobile Computing News

Photo: Apple

Speaking at All Things Digital, Steve Jobs touched on competitors ranging from Google to Adobe and product performance within his company, too. One area that has not gotten the kind of coverage it deserves, considering the forum, is his opinion on the future of the newspaper business.

Democracy depends on a healthy press

The conference, which ironically, was opened by Newscorp big wig Rupert Murdoch, saw Jobs premising his opinion on his belief that ‘democracy depends on a free, healthy press.’ As a result, Apple is prepared to assist traditional journalism in any way that it can to stabilise the financials of the newspaper business.

The iPad, which is partly envisioned as a platform for distributing digital content and news is one such example of Apple’s ‘assistance’ (at a profit, of course) of this industry. And Steve Jobs believes the rich platform can provide an opportunity to monetise better than a mere web page can saying, ‘I think people are willing to pay for content’ – a sentiment Rupert Murdoch shares with Steve, considering the pay wall going up for the Times Online.

The bloggers’ perspective

Photo: Matthew Yohe / Wikimedia Commons

Blogging – whether done professionally or casually – is partly responsible for the decline of the newspaper business. The ability to get information online for free – in the sense that users do not pay for it directly – has put pressure on the newspaper industries, raising fears about the future of the press business. This pressure has led to a radical rethink in how the press industry monetises content.

The nexus sits snuggly between demand and supply, as well as rethinking the business model – something Apple is keenly aware of. Insofar as the quality of reporting is of a level so high and exclusive, people will pay for it. This is the very reason publications like the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal can charge premium subscription prices. However, where we start getting to industries, like technology reporting, where blogs do a comparable (if not superior) job to traditional outlets, the ‘professional’ press will struggle to compete by charging for content.

Beyond ideas

It’s not so much that Steve Jobs is wrong in sentiment, it’s that the business, one steeped in heavy tradition, needs to rethink how it makes money. And perhaps old stalwarts of the newspaper business like Rupert Murdoch aren’t capable of pulling new tricks. Perhaps.