(knowDigital) To attract a large number of users and generate substantial subscription revenue, The Daily — the news-based application released by News Corporation in February exclusively for Apple’s iPad™ platform — will need to overcome a few obstacles with iPad owners who consume news online. These obstacles include the perception among those with the greatest interest in news that The Daily’s content is lacking, that superior content is available elsewhere online for free and the expectation that apps are purchased through one-time transactions, as opposed to the recurring subscription model The Daily employs. Identifying these obstacles comprises the major finding of research on The Daily released today by knowDigital, which funded and independently completed the study. A report detailing this and other key findings is now available for free download from the company’s website (www.knowDigital.com).
“Our research finds that iPad users feel positively about what News Corporation has set out to accomplish with The Daily,” said knowDigital President Sam Milkman, who authored the report. “However, for News Corporation to convert those positive impressions into regular use and paid subscriptions from iPad users, it is going to have to address a number of concerns raised in our study.”
knowDigital completed the study, “Real iPad Users’ Early Reaction to The Daily,” with 25- to 54-year-old iPad owners who consumed electronic news multiple times each week. These consumers participated in one-on-one, 30-minute interviews with knowDigital personnel following two weeks of regular usage of The Daily.
The study revealed how consumers generally fell into two camps — one consisting of tech-savvy, heavy news users and one consisting of those who are less tech-savvy and have lower interest in gathering news content. It is with this second group that The Daily performed better, as the heavy news users in the first group — while appreciating the technical features of The Daily — dismissed much of the app’s content, expressing the nearly universal perception that more compelling and in-depth news content is available elsewhere online for no charge. iPad users in both camps were generally unwilling to commit to purchasing subscriptions to The Daily for a number of reasons, including some based on their specific perceptions of The Daily and some based on the idea of paying for an app on a recurring charge basis.
About knowDigital
knowDigital, based in Lafayette Hill, PA, provides brand research for digital media. As a division of Research Triangle Park, NC-based Coleman Insights, it has worked with dozens of traditional and digital media companies investigating a wide array of issues including the digital media habits of Country music fans, audio streaming strategies, the viability of mobile television, strategies for developing local web portals, music download packaging options and new media content distribution platforms. More information about knowDigital is available at www.knowDigital.com.
iPad™ and Apple® are registered marks of Apple, Inc.
CONTACT: Scott Segelbaum
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scott@rightbrainagency.com
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New Study Of iPad Users Identifies Obstacles For The Daily.pdf application/pdf Object.
(Change) Exodus International, the notorious “ex-gay” organization, has just released an iPhone app that, according to its website, is “designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders.” The Exodus website further boasts that its app received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it contains “no objectionable content.”
No objectionable content? We beg to differ. Exodus’ message is hateful and bigoted. They claim to offer “freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ” and use scare tactics, misinformation, stereotypes and distortions of LGBT life to recruit clients. They endorse the use of so-called “reparative therapy” to “change” the sexual orientation of their clients, despite the fact that this form of “therapy” has been rejected by every major professional medical organization including the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Counseling Association. But reparative therapy isn’t just bad medicine — it’s also very damaging to the self-esteem and mental health of its victims.
This new iPhone app is the latest move in Exodus’ dangerous new strategy of targeting youth. In light of the recent wave of LGBT youth suicides, this tactic is particularly galling as it creates, legitimizes, and fuels the ostracism of LGBT youth by their families. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, LGBT teens who experienced negative feedback from their family were 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 6 times as vulnerable to severe depression, and 3 times more likely to use drugs (Caitlin Ryan, San Francisco State University, June 2009).
Apple doesn’t allow racist or anti-Semitic apps in its app store, yet it gives the green light to an app targeting vulnerable LGBT youth with the message that their sexual orientation is a “sin that will make your heart sick” and a “counterfeit.” This is a double standard that has the potential for devastating consequences.
Apple needs to be told, loud and clear, that this is unacceptable. Stand with Truth Wins Out — demand that the iTunes store stop supporting homophobia and remove the Exodus app.
via Gay Rights Petition: Demand that Apple remove “ex-gay” iPhone app | Change.org.
(DailyFinance) Rob Berry and Josh Levitas’s “Ulysses Seen” webcomic is, by all accounts, an ambitious undertaking, as any adaptation of the Irish author’s nearly 1,000-page tome would be. And with a readers’ guide, translation into foreign languages and other complementary materials, it would seem like a natural for the iPad and its multitouch user interface.
But Apple had a surprise up its sleeve, thanks to its strict guidelines about adult content, and the nudity present in “Ulysses Seen” was verboten.
“While the first chapter of the book, the one now at iTunes, doesn’t contain ‘offensive language,’ our comic does have frank nudity. Something we figured we might have to pixelate or cover with ‘fig leaves,’” Berry told the comics blog Robot 6. “But Apple’s policy prohibits even that. So we were forced to either scrap the idea of moving to the tablet with Apple or re-design our pages.”
Berry and Levitas opted to stay on the iPad and follow Apple’s rules, so the iPad version of the webcomic is nudity-free (the unexpurgated version, however, remains online).
See full article from DailyFinance:http://srph.it/a2boTN
Image and accompanying story can be found here: http://www.fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=552&mode=one(DailyFinance) Rob Berry and Josh Levitas’s “Ulysses Seen” webcomic is, by all accounts, an ambitious undertaking, as any adaptation of the Irish author’s nearly 1,000-page tome would be. And with a readers’ guide, translation into foreign languages and other complementary materials, it would seem like a natural for the iPad and its multitouch user interface.
But Apple had a surprise up its sleeve, thanks to its strict guidelines about adult content, and the nudity present in “Ulysses Seen” was verboten.
“While the first chapter of the book, the one now at iTunes, doesn’t contain ‘offensive language,’ our comic does have frank nudity. Something we figured we might have to pixelate or cover with ‘fig leaves,’” Berry told the comics blog Robot 6. “But Apple’s policy prohibits even that. So we were forced to either scrap the idea of moving to the tablet with Apple or re-design our pages.”
Berry and Levitas opted to stay on the iPad and follow Apple’s rules, so the iPad version of the webcomic is nudity-free (the unexpurgated version, however, remains online).
See full article from DailyFinance:http://srph.it/a2boTN
Image and accompanying story can be found here: http://www.fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=552&mode=one
By Stephen Coles
(FontFeed) Signs that type took a backseat in the iPad’s development were clear back in January when Steve Jobs demoed the device, revealing just four uninspired and uninformed font options in iBooks. Apple also went with full justification without hyphenation, learning nothing from the Kindle’s spacing woes. These decisions were small or unnoticeable to the millions of future iPad buyers watching the announcement. But they stuck out like a sore thumb to typographers, whose job it is to make small, unnoticeable decisions that make text easier and more enjoyable to read. For those of us who hoped that a device meant for reading would be designed for reading, with all the typographic details well-considered and implemented, the announcement was disappointing.
Read the rest What the iPad is Missing (No, it’s not a Camera) | The FontFeed.
