Thursday
Jan282010
Why the iPad isn't a Gutenberg-like Print Revolution
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 5:17PM
The reason the old media is having a masturbatory field day over this thing is that it's a vertically integrated, closed architecture. Their business model has always been built on controlling the distribution of information and this seems like a way to return to that. But calling Jobs the next Gutenberg would be incorrect, this is a step backwards, not forwards.
by su_anna
The Gutenberg press was democratizing because you no longer had to have resources of the government or the church to produce written work. But despite that, it was still expensive. As an individual you couldn't afford to own and run a printing press on your own, only corporations had that kind of money. And of course, being a corporation, they want to make the most money possible. So over the last two centuries the corporations have merged, and merged again until basically a handful control 90% of the media in any given geographic region. As the competition decreased, the prices and profits increased to where we are now.
by 4rilla
For the last few decades old media has become accustomed to making billions of dollars because they are the only way for you to get entertainment or information. But the internet came along and broke that business model. It's the next step in the democratization of information. It's the Gutenberg press in every house, and it's free. Of course the old media is not too happy about this. The control they used to have is rapidly disappearing and they are having to face actual competition for the first time in 200 years. They can't compete because the content itself was rarely worth paying for in the first place, you were mostly just buying access and now that access is free.
Their response has been to try to develop new ways to bring back that control they had. You see that in things like copyright lawsuits and DRM, or in developing new forms of physical media like BluRay or 3D TV. The iPad is another way to control distribution. It is an almost completely closed system. You cannot install the software of your choice on this, only applications specifically approved by Apple.
by FHKE
That is a huge deal and it means that this isn't a Gutenberg device, there is no freedom here, there is no democratization. This is fascism in it's purest form. Maybe beautiful, functional fascism; but still fascism. It's a corporate dictatorship where Steve Jobs tells you what is and is not permitted, secure in the belief that his judgment is superior to yours. His claim is that this control is necessary to ensure quality, but coincidentally it also ensures a healthy profit margin. Their hope is that Apple will control the books available for you to download and the place you buy them from.
That's why the media is praising this like it's the second coming. It represents a chance to turn their sinking ship around, and have it sink in a new direction, at a slightly slower rate.
by amateur_photo_bore
Old media is hoping that this point of control will mean people will start buying newspapers and books in iPad form. And even better, those won't be transferable to any other device, or any other person. So you can't lend books anymore and you can't sell your used copies. And on top of all of this, they are priced almost the same as the dead-tree version despite costing nothing to copy or distribute, so profits per unit sold are much higher.
by I am I.A.M.
Thing is, these companies are incredibly naive. Apple's profit margin is the only one that is going to improve, and in the long run, this will mostly just add to the demise of old media. Music is a good example. iTunes offered music companies the opportunity to sell their stuff through a controlled channel to the consumer at higher profits, but the iPod didn't save the music industry, it killed it.
Once people started using iPods they may have bought some digital music, but for a variety of reasons, they pirated way more than they bought. I'd say that 97% of the music on the average persons iPod is pirated, and there is no reason to suspect that written content will be much different.
Not only will the iPad lead to a huge rise in book piracy, it'll be the content industries own fault too. All this control only produces a false sense of security for the content creator and pisses off the consumer. The App Store was
notorious for banning content Apple thought was inappropriate, both pornographic and political. That'll happen in the book store too. These books will also be laden with DRM, and only certain books will be released to certain devices. On the whole this means that if I want anything mildly 'inappropriate', want to move my books around devices, share them with friends, or don't want to pay a physical price for an digital product, I'll have to pirate it.
by de_coder
The iPad isn't revolutionizing anything by itself. The internet and digital content are revolutionary. The iPad is just one way to get that content, and in my opinion not even a very good one. It's basically just a really big iPod Touch and the only thing unprecedented about this it is the hype.
It is not a computer, it's an e-reader with extra features. It has no useful ports, you have no access to the OS, you can only install approved software, and loading it with non-Apple video or books will be a pain if it's even possible. Want to chat and watch a movie at the same time? Too bad, no multitasking. Want to download podcasts or movies over 3G? Not allowed. Want to download anything from anyone other than Apple? Are you kidding?
The Kindle is the main thing getting targeted here. The Kindle is the king of e-readers though it's admittedly ugly and very limited in function by comparison. But if Amazon drops the price of the Kindle to like... $150.. they are still solidly in the game. The Kindle has far more books, it's cheaper, the books are cheaper, the battery lasts 2 weeks (not 10 hours), it's easier to read, and the Kindle doesn't require you buy a monthly data plan.
by oskay
The exception to this is the gaming. The gaming will be impressive, different and new. Playing a strategy game like Civilization or Red Alert on this would be a really awesome experience with multitouch.
In summary it's a very pretty e-reader and gaming device. Not a revolution. Old media is still fucked, Apple is just slowing it down and taxing it.
And I still want a Macbook Pro in tablet form.
by Kent K. Barnes / kentkb
by su_anna
The Gutenberg press was democratizing because you no longer had to have resources of the government or the church to produce written work. But despite that, it was still expensive. As an individual you couldn't afford to own and run a printing press on your own, only corporations had that kind of money. And of course, being a corporation, they want to make the most money possible. So over the last two centuries the corporations have merged, and merged again until basically a handful control 90% of the media in any given geographic region. As the competition decreased, the prices and profits increased to where we are now.
by 4rilla
For the last few decades old media has become accustomed to making billions of dollars because they are the only way for you to get entertainment or information. But the internet came along and broke that business model. It's the next step in the democratization of information. It's the Gutenberg press in every house, and it's free. Of course the old media is not too happy about this. The control they used to have is rapidly disappearing and they are having to face actual competition for the first time in 200 years. They can't compete because the content itself was rarely worth paying for in the first place, you were mostly just buying access and now that access is free.
Their response has been to try to develop new ways to bring back that control they had. You see that in things like copyright lawsuits and DRM, or in developing new forms of physical media like BluRay or 3D TV. The iPad is another way to control distribution. It is an almost completely closed system. You cannot install the software of your choice on this, only applications specifically approved by Apple.
by FHKE
That is a huge deal and it means that this isn't a Gutenberg device, there is no freedom here, there is no democratization. This is fascism in it's purest form. Maybe beautiful, functional fascism; but still fascism. It's a corporate dictatorship where Steve Jobs tells you what is and is not permitted, secure in the belief that his judgment is superior to yours. His claim is that this control is necessary to ensure quality, but coincidentally it also ensures a healthy profit margin. Their hope is that Apple will control the books available for you to download and the place you buy them from.
That's why the media is praising this like it's the second coming. It represents a chance to turn their sinking ship around, and have it sink in a new direction, at a slightly slower rate.
by amateur_photo_bore
Old media is hoping that this point of control will mean people will start buying newspapers and books in iPad form. And even better, those won't be transferable to any other device, or any other person. So you can't lend books anymore and you can't sell your used copies. And on top of all of this, they are priced almost the same as the dead-tree version despite costing nothing to copy or distribute, so profits per unit sold are much higher.
by I am I.A.M.
Thing is, these companies are incredibly naive. Apple's profit margin is the only one that is going to improve, and in the long run, this will mostly just add to the demise of old media. Music is a good example. iTunes offered music companies the opportunity to sell their stuff through a controlled channel to the consumer at higher profits, but the iPod didn't save the music industry, it killed it.
Once people started using iPods they may have bought some digital music, but for a variety of reasons, they pirated way more than they bought. I'd say that 97% of the music on the average persons iPod is pirated, and there is no reason to suspect that written content will be much different.
Not only will the iPad lead to a huge rise in book piracy, it'll be the content industries own fault too. All this control only produces a false sense of security for the content creator and pisses off the consumer. The App Store was
notorious for banning content Apple thought was inappropriate, both pornographic and political. That'll happen in the book store too. These books will also be laden with DRM, and only certain books will be released to certain devices. On the whole this means that if I want anything mildly 'inappropriate', want to move my books around devices, share them with friends, or don't want to pay a physical price for an digital product, I'll have to pirate it.
by de_coder
The iPad isn't revolutionizing anything by itself. The internet and digital content are revolutionary. The iPad is just one way to get that content, and in my opinion not even a very good one. It's basically just a really big iPod Touch and the only thing unprecedented about this it is the hype.
It is not a computer, it's an e-reader with extra features. It has no useful ports, you have no access to the OS, you can only install approved software, and loading it with non-Apple video or books will be a pain if it's even possible. Want to chat and watch a movie at the same time? Too bad, no multitasking. Want to download podcasts or movies over 3G? Not allowed. Want to download anything from anyone other than Apple? Are you kidding?
The Kindle is the main thing getting targeted here. The Kindle is the king of e-readers though it's admittedly ugly and very limited in function by comparison. But if Amazon drops the price of the Kindle to like... $150.. they are still solidly in the game. The Kindle has far more books, it's cheaper, the books are cheaper, the battery lasts 2 weeks (not 10 hours), it's easier to read, and the Kindle doesn't require you buy a monthly data plan.
by oskay
The exception to this is the gaming. The gaming will be impressive, different and new. Playing a strategy game like Civilization or Red Alert on this would be a really awesome experience with multitouch.
In summary it's a very pretty e-reader and gaming device. Not a revolution. Old media is still fucked, Apple is just slowing it down and taxing it.
And I still want a Macbook Pro in tablet form.
by Kent K. Barnes / kentkb
tagged Rant, Steve jobs, democracy, gutenburg, ipad, kindle, open source, revolution in Rant
Rant, Steve jobs, democracy, gutenburg, ipad, kindle, open source, revolution in Rant 
Reader Comments (5)
What a lucid analysis! Can't but agree with these words. Hopefully the iPad will be the inspiration for a free-open version of this product.
No problem using the picture, glad to see it in your post.
Can't argue with much you have to say re: Apple and the ipad!
Ummm... just checking, this isn't the same guy who just supported the evil empire, with his newly minted Mac computer?
"This is fascism in it’s purest form. Maybe beautiful, functional fascism; but still fascism. It’s a corporate dictatorship where Steve Jobs tells you what is and is not permitted..."
Fascism? Steve Jobs isn't the government. You have a choice whether to use his product. His product is not the only one on the market. Noone prevents you or anyone else from making a competing product So fascism? No. Sorry.
As for his being a corporate dictatorship...how is his dictatorship any different from the control any company exerts over its product? Do you believe that artists have a right to copyright their material and expect to be paid for the use of that material? No one has a right to profit from the work of others. We pay people for their labour. That is capitalism.
If Mr.Jobs convinces the government to forbid other companies from existing, then you will have fascism. That is called a monopoly, and is the antithesis of the free market. So yes, the possibility of monopolies exist, and that is the biggest concern.
I didn't say he doesn't have a right to run his business however he wants. And using the term "fascism" is artistic license, it's hyperbole, it's exaggeration for the purpose of effect, I'm aware he's not a government.
His policies are far far more draconian and controlling than almost anyone else in the computer industry. Computer technology has typically been a more open environment where people can do whatever they want with the devices and software they buy, and he's trying to change that, he's trying to lock it down. I disagree with that, but I agree that he has the right to do it.
The point of the post was that Steve Jobs is not the savior of the print industry, and he's not bringing a revolution like the printing press. He's producing a new product that's very locked down (though less than I anticipated, apparently you can put ePub books on it, and there will be a Kindle app). And this device is going to encourage piracy the same way the iPod did (which I think is good thing).
On the copyright comment, I believe that artists have a right to make money, but I don't believe that they have a right to restrict my freedoms and my reduce my privacy in order to do it. I won't elaborate any more here, but I'm writing another post on that subject this week.