More Proof That Apple’s Next Target Is The Print Media/Industry

After Apple made iTunes, it soon became quite clear that it was the best place to sell music digitally. The store became so very important that it ended up playing a major role in helping the music industry get digital and get online. Now, Apple is looking to pull up another struggling industry into the digital age – the print industry.
Currently, the only comparable stores are owned by Amazon and Barnes and Noble. But they are not nearly comprehensive enough to buoy up the industry. If Apple has its way, we will have everything from newspapers and periodicals to graphic novels and literary criticism available on the iTunes store. Okay, so that last one might take time to arrive on iTunes but the buzz created by Apple’s (not so) covert activities point towards such things happening.
Steve’s Comment
Right after the rock n’ roll event, Steve Jobs was interviewed by David Pogue where Steve was asked directly about eBook-readers. What Steve said in response was interpreted as him saying a flat no. That is what it seemed like after Pogue re-wrote the interview.
But then techcrunch dug up the cached version of the transcription that Pogue had originally posted before the re-write. And as they rightly point out – Steve is not saying that Apple will not partake in the eBook market.
Instead, he is actually saying that Apple is not interested in making a dedicated device like the Kindle and that general purpose devices will ultimately be the norm in the future. That is a nice way of saying “We are making a general purpose device that will own all such dumb devices (like iPhone owns other smartphones).†[read]
iTunes Gets Tyrese Gibson’s Mayhem
This small event set off a big round of speculations in the tech world. Tyerese Gibson’s Mayhem became available on iTunes for $1.99 in the iTunes LP rich media format.
The speculation was that this was just a test. The tools created by Apple for this job are likely to become the base for the tools that will be given to other such authors to ready their material for the iTunes stores. Logically, the iTunes LP/Extras format is the prefect medium for this kind of content. But Apple is might even tweak it further before it is deemed fit for most of what print media has to offer. [read]
Rumors Of NYT And Others Meeting With Apple
After the iPod haze lifted, there was the Gizmodo article on Apple’s activities with the top rung of the publishing industry. This included editors, owners and others who were apparently being briefed about a new device. Word was that they were also having extensive meetings regarding selling their content on this new device/platform. [read]
NYT Editor Slips Apple Slate
This is a more recent slip leak where the venerable Bill Keller, executive editor of New York Times, slipped the words Apple Slate during an internal meeting with the newspaper’s digital team. The video was never meant to be seen by the public but this was too tantalizing to be kept under wraps I suppose. He mentioned the device as impending and probably gave the closest thing to an official confirmation of the existence of the Apple Tablet.
Apple Rumors Around Australian Media Companies
And here’s the latest bit of relevant rumor. A newspaper in Australia reports that Apple has contacted various media companies in the country about a new device. It wants to know if the companies would be interested in selling their content on this new device. The new device is portable (duh) and is described as being too big for the pocket but small enough for a handbag.
None of the companies have commented on this and if they know what’s good for them, none of them will till the embargo is lifted. [read]
The Sheer Logic And History Of It All
Both Apple and Microsoft had envisioned a future where tablets rule the world. Bill Gates had famously said that people will go back to the pen very soon. Well, that did not happen but we did see both companies trying.
Apple had their Newton pad and Microsoft had ideas. Nothing really worked out. The ideas were too far beyond the capabilities of consumer tech at that point.
Now however, in the post-iPhone world, the idea of owning and using a tablet is completely plausible and it is possible too. Along with that, the eBook market is really heating up. Judging by the sheer number of new and under-development eBook readers we have seen recently, it is obvious that everyone sees opportunity here.
Apple has never really been the type to jump in medias res. Instead, the company has tirelessly developed and tested out products to make them perfect in every possible way and then released it. Of course, nothing will ever be perfect but the first iPhone did blow everyone away. A few product cycles down, the iPhone 3GS is the hottest thing around.
So my guess is that when Apple releases their tablet/slate early next year (and we are pretty sure they will), it will be another game changing device. If you are still skeptical, see me after the launch.


Martin, I would appreciate that you do not censor this post, as it’s informative writing.
Onur, there is a misleading statement “[…] GIFs are animated images …”. No, obviously you don’t seem to have take much notice of what you were told back in March regarding; Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).
For example, https://www.ghacks.net/2023/03/31/whats-gif-explanation-and-how-to-use-it/#comment-4562919 (if you had read my replies within that thread, you might have learnt something useful). I even mentioned, “GIF intrinsically supports animated images (GIF89a)”.
You linked to said article, [Related: …] within this article, but have somehow failed to take onboard what support you were given by several more knowledgeable people.
If you used AI to help write this article, it has failed miserably.
EMRE ÇITAK posts are useless because they are fraught with inaccuracies and are irrelevant.
AI is stupid, and it will not get any better if we really know how this all works. Prove me wrong.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYl1sTIOHI
Martin, [#comment-4569908] is only meant to be in: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/09/how-to-send-gifs-on-iphone-two-different-ways/]. Whereas it appears duplicated in several recent random low-quality non relevant articles.
Obviously it [#comment-4569908] was posted: 9 July 2023. Long before this thread even existed… your database is falling over. Those comments are supposed to have unique ID values. It shouldn’t be possible to duplicate the post ID, if the database had referential integrity.
Don’t tell me!
Ghacks wants the state to step in for STATE-MANDATED associations to save jobs!!!
Bring in the dictatorship!!!
And screw Rreedom of Association – too radical for Ghacks maybe
GateKeeper ?
That’s called “appointing” businesses to do the state’s dirty work!!!!!
But the article says itself that those appointed were not happy – implying they had not choice!!!!!!
Rreedom of Association is one of our most important rights. Some people think it’s Freedom, but no, I say Rreedom is far more important. There are many STATE-MANDATED associations that save jobs, that’s right MANDATED. I can’t name any of them, but rest assured they are bad, because saving jobs are bad, and people having jobs leads to dictatorship!!! Anyone who disagrees is too radical for Ghacks maybe, because I’m not sure.
@The Dark Lady,
@KeZa,
@Database failure,
@Howard Pearce,
@Howard Allan Pearce,
Note: I replaced the quoted URI scheme: https:// with “>>” and posted.
The current ghacks.net is owned by “Softonic International S.A.” (sold by Martin in October 2019), and due to the fate of M&A, ghacks.net has changed in quality.
>> ghacks.net/2023/09/02/microsoft-is-removing-wordpad-from-windows/#comment-4573130
Many Authors of bloggers and advertisers certified by Softonic have joined the site, and the site is full of articles aimed at advertising and clickbait.
>> ghacks.net/2023/08/31/in-windows-11-the-line-between-legitimate-and-adware-becomes-increasingly-blurred/#comment-4573117
As it stands, except for articles by Martin Brinkmann, Mike Turcotte, and Ashwin, they are low quality, unhelpful, and even vicious. It is better not to read those articles.
How to display only articles by a specific author:
Added line to My filters in uBlock Origin: ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
>> ghacks.net/2023/09/01/windows-11-development-overview-of-the-august-2023-changes/#comment-4573033
By the way, if you use an RSS reader, you can track exactly where your comments are (I’m an iPad user, so I use “Feedly Classic”, but for Windows I prefer the desktop app “RSS Guard”).
RSS Guard: Feed reader which supports RSS/ATOM/JSON and many web-based feed services.
>> github.com/martinrotter/rssguard#readme
We all live in digital surveillance glass houses under scrutiny of evil people because of people like Musk. It’s only fair that he takes his turn.
“Operating systems will be required to let the user choose the browser, virtual assistant and search engine of their choice. Microsoft cannot force users to use Bing or Edge. Apple will have to open up its iOS operating system to allow third-party app stores, aka allow sideloading of apps. Google, on the other hand, will need to provide users with the ability to uninstall preloaded apps (bloatware) from Android devices. Online services will need to allow users to unsubscribe from their platform easily. Gatekeepers need to provide interoperability with third-parties that offer similar services.”
Wonderful ! Let’s hope they’ll comply with that law more than they are doing with the GDPR.
No, they didn’t lmao.
https://twitter.com/vxunderground/status/1706523877478670542
What does this article about Musk/Tesla have to do with computing, devices, phones?
More irelevant filler.
yeah sure… they are always the victims and it is only against them ????
Believe them 100% and never question anything. This lawsuit sounds like the type you heard when people were eating batteries.