Can iPad Save the Media Business?

Many print media companies are hopeful that the iPad will ease their transition to the digital age.

On Monday, word surfaced that two of them are moving head-on into the world of the iPad. First, Condé Nast, which took an early initiative with a much-discussed iPad app for its Wired magazine, has announced that it will be rolling out more of its titles for the device: GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Glamour will be on the iPad at different points in the spring and summer.

(Full disclosure: Both Condé Nast and Portfolio.com parent American City Business Journals are divisions of Advance Publications.)

GQ will be the first to drop on the iPad, with its April issue. Vanity Fair will follow with its June issue, which is also when Wired's first iPad issue will debut.

The Wired app, the only one developed outside of Condé, was created by Adobe, which has had a rocky relationship with Apple. That's because Apple didn't include Adobe's Flash technology on both the iPhone and iPad. The GQ rollout is expected to be a larger version of the current iPhone app instead of the glitzy Wired app.

This approach, using both internally and externally developed applications that offer different sets of features, might help Condé figure out the key question for iPad developers: "What works?"

Initially, the magazines will be sold through iTunes. Wired will be offered outside of iTunes as well.

The Associated Press is planning to roll out a native iPad application too. The app will be one of the first products offered through its new business unit, AP Gateway. The unit has a clearly defined mission: "The unit will facilitate development of fresh news consumer experiences for the Web as well as mobile phones, tablets, and e-readers."

For the last year, the AP has been working to "tag and track" its content through its News Registry. Adding both descriptive and tracking data packages keys is key, according to the initial press release from July 2009 announcing the News Registry. The idea is to track and monitor usage and to enable new business opportunities.

While the immediate purpose of keeping track of its content on the Internet is served with the tracking data, it is the descriptive data that will allow the AP to package all of its various content formats to best tell a story in a particular format. The tracking data in turn will then allow the AP to determine how it is performing that very task.