For Sale: Print
Marvel Comics on iPad
I have seen the future…and I am selling all of my books.
Okay, not all of them, but an awful lot of them. Books, comic books, magazines, and just about everything print. Y’see, I’ve had an Amazon Kindle 2 for over a year now. And don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing little machine.
But then I saw the iPad, and it changed the way I thought about books, particularly comic books.
Tablets have been around for quite a while. In fact, at work, we run tablet PCs with Microsoft Windows. It’s a nice technology, but for whatever reason, it just didn’t lend itself to reading full novels. Even comics were a little awkward, since you had to use a little stylus to turn the pages of a digital comic.
Apple’s iPad interface is amazing. It’s intuitive, pleasant, and fades quickly into the background. Admittedly, it’s not quite as good as the Kindle when it comes to reading plain text books. But it’s terrific for reading comics. And if they get that screen just a tiny bit larger on the next version — without increasing the total size of the device — it’ll be about a darn near perfect comic book reading experience.
Lots of comic book friends think this is just crazy, but I happen to think that it’s the way I’ll be consuming comics in the future. Sure, part of the comic book hobby is bagging, boarding, and saving your comics. But if you think about it, that’s just a tradition rooted in print and distribution.
Back in the early days, comic books were distributed on the news stand. If you wanted comics when you were a kid, you went to the nearest news stand, pharmacy, or convenience store and got your issues. The problem was that there were very few comic book stores, so it was difficult, and often very expensive, to find back issues of comic books. Scarcity increases price, so that’s the short version of why some old comics are expensive. More people want them than there are comics to buy, and suddenly, people are paying a million dollars for a single issue of Superman.
Because of this relative scarcity of back issues — and the fact that some comic book stories are one long serialized saga — people learned to buy and collect comics. A supporting industry sprung up that supplies bags, boards, boxes, and just about ever variation in between. Multiply that by a few decades of my personal collecting fervor, and I have a room that’s seemingly overrun with white boxes.
As I stare at the iPad, I wonder how many comics will fit on this device? Better yet, how many will fit on my Mac, which I can transfer over to an iPad or whatever device? How many boxes can I possibly clear out of my collection, and how much of my man cave will I be able to reclaim?
One by one, I have been getting rid of my regular books. I’ve donated them to book sales, shared them with friends, and have basically just purged many of my bookshelves. There are still keepers, but the vast majority have found a second life somewhere else.
High quality digital content is easier than ever to find. You can even do it legally through Amazon and Apple, which means that you’re not stealing from the pockets of your favorite writers or artists. The only thing that is changing is the distribution channel, and bookstores, comic stores, and newsstands are scrambling to adapt to this new profit model. Some will survive, but many will not.
In the meantime, I’m trying to figure out what to do with my comic book collection. It’ll be a few years before everything in my current collection is ready in the digital format. It’ll start with the mainstream publishers like Marvel and DC Comics, but it will move quickly to independent publishers. I’m a traditionalist, so if publishers offer comics on DVDs
The way content — including ebooks — is popping into the Apple iTunes store, I think the future is happening sooner rather than later. And that’s just fine by me.
In the meantime, does anyone want to buy some classic comics? Cheap.
A Killer Review – Social Networks as Critics
Will my friends kill Killers?
Recently I wrote about how input from my personal social network compelled me to go see a movie that critics had panned. Now, it seems, the critics are being bypassed by some of the movie studios.
A recent article in NorthJersey.com revealed that the movie studio Lionsgate was planning to launch the new movie Killers without the customary practice of screening it for critics. According to the article, Lionsgate would rather take their chances with reviewers on Facebook and Twitter — that is, people who are probably closer to their target audience.
Lionsgate marketers are, pardon the pun, hoping for a killer review of Killer on Twitter.
As the media continues to evolve with new technology, the opinion of your friends has much more impact and influence than some anonymous reviewer. Sure, there will always be certain reviewers that we know and trust, but they are a fading source for information.
Marketers at Lionsgate recognize this and hope to ride the wave of buzz. It’s an interesting experiment, typically reserved for genre films. They figured (probably correctly) that the reviewers would hate their genre flicks, but that it would appeal to the target audience.
Now, they’re going straight to the audience. It’s the ultimate in buzz and viral marketing. It’s a new media stunt that garnered buzz for a movie property that was probably struggling for attention.
As far as I am concerned, I am now more interested to check out Killers. Now, at least, I know that I can trust the critics, since they are my friends.
And if they trick me into going to see a movie that I hate, well, I guess I need new friends.
Kid Gives Good PowerPoint
If you work in corporate America, particularly in marketing, you probably build decks and presentations. For the most part, these presentations are built in PowerPoint. And suck.
Seriously, I sit through countless presentations, and the vast majority aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. (A little joke there. Hah.)
Well, apparently Scott McCloud knows how to make a really good presentation. And if you watch the embedded video (go full screen), you’ll see his 13-year old daughter Sky McCloud does too.
Sky McCloud Presentation from Duarte Design on Vimeo.
Ask yourself: Is your client presentation or pitch deck as good as the one delivered by this 13-year old?
Flash, HTML5, & Why We Need to Move On
You gotta wonder…how many people really understand the whole Steve Jobs vs. Adobe Flash debate? Sure, if you are reading this blog, you may already have a better-than-average understanding of technology. And you may even work and socialize with similarly tech-minded people.
But the rest of the consumer world? Maybe not so much.
For now, it’s not really that big of an issue. There aren’t that many iPads out there yet, so the device penetration is rather small. If they stay close to home (i.e., mostly use apps they buy in the Apple iTunes store), they’ll be mostly unaffected by the whole hullabaloo.
If the iPad takes off, and it probably will, it will mean that people will start to understand that the standards debate actually does matter to them. It’s the same way that people with old televisions started to understand that they just cannot watch HD television or use TV widgets (like the ones from Vizio).
As a content marketer, I’m rooting for a quick end to the debate. Right now, I know how to push out compelling messages in Flash. And in HTML and widgets and video, etc. If the developers tell me that we can do something with a particular technology, I try to understand what kind of message I can deliver…obviously paying keen attention to the limitations of the medium. It’s just the way it is. It’s not a big deal, we just learn to communicate brand value and message through whatever medium people happen to be using.
If I have to learn the nuances of communicating through HTML5, great, I’ll do that. If I can keep using Flash, terrific, let’s get moving.
In the meantime, I just hope that this debate doesn’t have some kind of chilling effect on people’s willingness to buy new devices, including the iPad. Sometimes people sit out new technology to see which will be the dominant format. Most of the world sat out the latest Blu Ray versus HD DVD. They didn’t care who won. They just wanted to buy stuff, so they waited it out. People who didn’t even remember the VHS versus Betamax debate could reference it as a prime example of the original video-format wars.
Let’s solve this HTML5 versus Flash versus open source versus Apple versus Adobe debate quickly. We need to get on with the business of selling devices, creating great content, and exploiting the best new technology channels.
Another eReader Convert
Another day, another ereader convert.
Yup, another co-worker came to the office today to show off his Kindle. He admitted that my relentless raving for the Kindle pushed him over the edge. That, and he ran the numbers, and realized that he’s actually going to spend less on his reading materials. He’s a heavy reader of new non-fiction books, so the cost of shipping alone from Amazon and BN.com was apparently adding up.
He loves the Kindle and was showing it around the room. His favorite feature? His back no longer aches from lugging around books. Nice.
The falling cost of ebook readers is increasing the amount of content that you can get electronically. The improved capabilities coming from the Nook, Kindle, and the Apple iPad are inspiring content creators and even marketers to look at new ways to distribute content electronically. It’s a beautiful circle of ever-increasing growth for electronic publishing. It’s a lot like the early incarnations of websites in the 1990s, except on an accelerated timeline.
Like the early Internet — heck, like anything early in the development stage — the ebook and ereader market is going to experience explosive growth in many different directions. Some of them will be logical, especially in hindsight. Some directions will be surprising, and perhaps even illogical. Other directions will fizzle and be left to Net history and Wikipedia entries.
People jump on new technology like it’s supposed to be fully de-bugged and realized in the first or even second release. It’s never been that way. Consider the first cars or telephones or televisions or even the first computers. These devices evolved naturally, as engineers and users determined was features were valuable and which were unnecessary. It’ll be the same way with ereaders and ebooks. You can wait it out or you can jump in and be part of the virtual team that de-bugs and priortizes our future technology.
Today, one of my co-workers joined the revolution. One day, we’ll laugh about how primitive the Kindle is compared to our more advanced devices.
Nook – Now for Games
Nook with Chess
With all the buzz on the Apple iPad (for good reason) and the inevitable comparisons to Amazon’s Kindle, it’s easy to overlook the poor Nook.
Barnes & Nobles released the Nook amongst much fanfare, but failed to deliver enough units for the holiday season. It was a shame, really, when you consider that the Nook would have made an awesome last-minute gift.
Amazon may have won the hearts and wallets of online shoppers, but there are still lots of folks who like the traditional shopping experience. That’s the advantage that Barnes & Nobles will need to exploit more aggressively to differentiate themselves from the Kindle.
Just today, BN.com announced that the Nook now allows you to play some basic games like chess and Sudoku. Not to pick on the poor Nook because it is a dandy device. But chess and Sudoku in glorious black and white? Seriously? Is that your response to the iPad? What’s next? Pong?
Barnes & Nobles seems strangely intent on battling Apple on their turf (cool games) and Amazon on their turf (download ebooks). I’m no expert on bookselling, but I would imagine that they should be pounding the competition in places where they dominate — brick and mortar stores.
Barnes & Nobles is winning the real estate war. They claim to have 775 retail locations in the US and 636 bookstore locations. Sure, Apple has a handful of stores, but you’ll find that there are far more B&N locations. Amazon is strictly online.
Since it’s one of my favorite stores, I hope that Barnes and Nobles gets serious about making the next version of the Nook a serious mobile ereader with all the appropriate and logical features. And to do that, they need to exploit their unique value and killer app…their stores.
iPad vs Kindle – First Look
Apple iPad
It’s nice. Really nice. The color pops, the screen is sharp, and you just don’t want to give it back.
Sure, I have a Kindle, and it’s a great ebook reader. And considering my initial assessment of the iPad, I think that the Kindle is still a better ereader.
But, wow. That iPad is just about better for everything else. Video, web browsing, games, apps. None of these are even available on my Kindle 2.0, which is looking a lot like old technology.
The iPad is really expensive. If you get the top-o-the line with 3G coverage, you’re dropping a ton of dough, even before you start paying for your phone service. Crazy as it seems, the Kindle suddenly downright inexpensive as compared to the iPad.
For everyday use, the Kindle is a great ereader. I didn’t realize how light and portable it was until I picked up the iPad. The iPad has clearly superior screen technology, but I guess that comes with dense, compact electronics that add an unusually uncomfortable weight. While reading a sample ebook (which looked much better than expected), my instinct was to rest it on a table, just to balance the weight. The Kindle, on the other hand, is pleasantly light. You hold it like a paperback novel. The iPad is like holding a textbook.
For me, of course, the iPad is a damn nice device for reading comics. The colors look amazing and digital comics are perfect for this platform.
It’s unlikely that my Kindle will be banished anytime soon, since I tend to read a lot. The e-ink technology means excellent sharpness and long battery life.
But for everyday, all-around fun, the super-cool, insanely useful iPad is the hands-down winner.
Hot Tub Networking Machine
Based on the title, I had no interest in seeing “Hot Tub Time Machine.” Granted, I typically like John Cusack and Craig Robinson, but this one just looked lame. Then, when the reviews came out, and predictably the movie got some uninspiring reviews.
Then something social network-ish happened. My friend Mike Fasolo called me and told me, “ignore the reviewers. Go see this movie.”
Now, before I go any further, it’s worth noting that people trust their social network. Content is king, but context is what make the content personally relevant. They certainly do not trust the mainstream media.
I ignored the critics, hopped in my car, and caught an early showing of Hot Tub Time Machine. Know what? Mike was right. It was very funny, and I’ve recommended it to other people who have memories of the 1980s.
And this is why buzz marketing and social media marketing is so important. People have greater trust for the people in their personal social circle than they even do for paid professionals. Disney even recently canceled the iconic At The Movies show after 24 seasons of thumbs up, thumbs down reviews.
Hot Tub Time Machine clearly isn’t for everyone. It’s not a movie made for critics, but neither are mainstream movies like Avatar. The critics tend to like more highbrow entertainment, which makes sense.
In the end, HTTM will probably find it’s audience on DVD and BluRay, which is fine. It’s works just as well in a home theater as it does in a megaplex. Ultimately, the movie will travel organically and inexpensively through social networking channels.
Many marketers are still struggling to find that perfect social-media marketing formula, so they can tap it every time, like turning on a water faucet. But that’s exactly why social media is so effective. People trust their social network precisely because it’s not supported by advertising dollars. It’s fueled, instead, by people who just want to share with their friends. And you just cannot bottle and sell that.
Upcoming Speaking Appearance
Hey team. I’ll be making a rare public appearance this weekend at the Science Fiction Club of Bergen County in New Jersey.
On Saturday, April 10 at 8:00 PM, I’ll be talking about comics, photo reference, and technology stuff. Just like my blog, except more or less live.
So, if your dream was to one day meet me (and really, who hasn’t had that dream?), you can come see me at:
Saddle River Valley Cultural Center
305 West Saddle River
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
I’ll be doing a little presentation and then, I dunno, maybe something else. And if there’s time, maybe something else on top of that.
See you there!
Twas the Night Before iPad
Apple iPad
On the eve of iPad, the buzz is everywhere. Once again, Apple has managed to make themselves the topic of discussion. Every newspaper, magazine, blog, and website seems to have some sort of opinion on the iPad.
This week’s episode of Modern Family (a very funny show) even featured a major story line that included the iPad. Not just a mention, but a major, intrinsic part of the story. The iPad got some of the best product placement ever known to television.
Sure, it’s a great display of awesome or “insanely great” technology, but it’s much more than that. It’s a demonstration of how well Apple can connect with their target audience. This is a brilliant marketing story unfolding in real time.
Apple is one of those rare companies that creates a culture that they feed with well-timed and well-conceived products. They know their audience, which happens to include the media. And they play to them.
Many books have been written about Steve Jobs, the marketing of the Macintosh, the iPhone, and soon the iPad. But these are real-time chronicles. What will be interesting is the hindsight perspective that we have 10, 15, 20 years from now. It’s a brilliant marketing case study that will help us understand why we were mesmerized and powerless to the siren call of Apple’s product line.
Sure, other companies are out there trying to steal the spotlight from Apple. But people aren’t that stupid. Apple has positioned itself as a trustworthy company that people just…well…like. It’s like a wedding, and the guests adore the beautiful bride. Even if she happens to be a tablet computer.
In the meantime, I look forward to reading the breathless first reviews from people who stand in line all night to get the first iPads. It’s all good cheery fun that dovetails with the improving economy and the coming of Spring.
And, at least for a little while, it’s nice to be part of the Apple geek club.
LINKS: Not necessarily endorsements:
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