iPad is the new frontier

Diego Cenzano is a journalist, and a founder of  an IT company involved in custom-made software solutions to implement the first iPad applications for multimedia companies. During the INMA’s Oxford Tablet Summit, he talked about technology as a critical element in media business.

Technology has become a critical element in the media business. We are facing a new frontier. 15 years ago it was internet. Now these are smartphones and tablets.

Publishers need to avoid the mistakes we made many years ago with the web. First, they should look back at them, and understant that iPad strategy is:

1. not a shovelware only strategy (moving full content to the new platform)
2. no automatic publishing.
3. very poor data about the reader / user
4. lack of innovation in advertisement

Publishers need to promote the integration of journalists, graphics and technology profiles inside the newsrooms, to empower the possibilities of our everyday work. Preliminary preparation of all content templates and navigation logic into the iPad CMS will be necessary. 3 new employees in the newsroom may be required in the new workflow: newsfeeds technician, graphic technical developer, ipad editor. They should operate closely together.

Content must be prepared in language that is understandable to different devices.

Media applications are a building process for tablets. Editorial system simply has to be common for print and online. It should be communicated to the content and stylesheet repository.

Five clear needs to be considered by the newsmedia companies:
1. become application creators
2. stress flexibility (it workflow has to be flexible, able to creat applications for different platforms)
3. enhance the user experience
4. organize your IT staff to deal with the day-to-day business. They have to be inside the newsroom to help journalists everyday. It’s a new approach towards the newsroom workflow.
5. Expand the technicals staff’s horizons

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