One of the areas where the iPad has really changed my behaviour is in the consumption of news. I was previously an intermittent user of RSS feeds. However, I now pretty much consume “topical content” exclusively through iPad apps like The Early Edition (see below). A subscription to The Economist is my sole remaining concession to print.

Using The Early Edition makes it difficult not to agree that traditional newspapers are in trouble. I now have a daily “newspaper” that is tailored specifically to my interests. No cricket scores crowding out the MotoGP standings. No technology articles that begin “The CPU—the ‘brain’ of the computer…” Basically, no fluff.

When reading today’s newspapers, it’s impossible not to be struck by how much of their content is op-ed and filler (e.g. feature articles). It also seems as if they spend days analyzing the potential consequence of a newsworthy event, a day reporting on the facts of the event and then a few more days analyzing the actual consequences of the event.

Well, there’s a lot of blank pages to fill, I guess.

We live in an age where everyone (genuinely) describes themselves as busy. So, who’s got time for a daily newspaper? Maybe a skim through “Metro” on the train home. Maybe. Colleagues increasingly mention that they buy a paper through habit, but don’t really read it.

In my RSS derived paper, I also get personal news—posts from clients’ project boards, friends’ blogs, etc. I’m pretty sure The Times won’t be up for that. Maybe I’ll drop them a line while they’re in a conciliatory mood…

A recent episode of “The Daily Show” had one of their presenters visit the New York Times. While there, they asked the editor, “What’s black and white and read all over?” The answer, unfortunately for the editor, wasn’t his guess of “A newspaper.”—it was his balance sheet.

So what can the papers do to retain/regain readers? Is there anything they can do? Or is it just too late?

For sure, it’s difficult to compete with hundreds of thousands of obsessive specialists. I don’t buy the argument that the newspapers are the guardians of quality and truth—the industry has already undermined itself in this respect.

One area where I think blogs are generally weak is in photojournalism. It’s probably no coincidence that the Guardian’s Eyewitness “photo of the day” iPad app is a big success. Blogs tend to rely on stock images…or copyright infringement. Photojournalism is an area that the newspapers, surprisingly, seem to have let slide.

Another weakness of blogs is in the editing. There’s scope for a publishing service that polishes the rough diamonds in the blogosphere.
Whatever the newspapers decide to do, it’ll need to be radical. I just can’t see people paying long-term for someone else’s vision of what they should be reading—not when they finally have their eyes opened to the alternatives.

• ISCE Publishing
• Amazon (US)
• Amazon (UK)

Feels like it’s been forever since we started it. Really helps you appreciate the immediacy of blogging!

But, then again, holding some “dead tree” in your hand has a quality of its own. I’ll probably have another go…sometime.

PiratePad provides a publicly available document that can be read and modified by anyone with access to the URL. Creating a new pad is as each as visiting the site and clicking a button. You then just share the supplied URL with other members of your group and start collaborating.

Obviously there’s no security—apart from the random “slug” in the URL (e.g. http://piratepad.net/gyye8hTp59)—so be sure not to add anything sensitive to your pad.

But, if you need a quick way of creating a short-lived collaborative space for a small group, it’s ideal.