A new paradigm
Having initially been described as a notebook without a keyboard and a smartphone on steroids, the tablet has emerged to be a truly new form-factor (as Jobs said when it was launched, we must concede). In many ways it's the ideal content consumption device, being both portable and large enough, with the low power and always-connected DNA of a smartphone.
But surfing the net on the move can sometimes be impractical. Commuters, for example, would prefer not to be reliant on an Internet connection for their morning read. The Daily is downloadable via an app, but also updates itself continually when there is a connection. It has all the multimedia, UI and social networking bells and whistles you would expect and seems like a genuine attempt to produce something fundamentally different to what's currently on offer.
Because it's app-based, it doesn't look like stories from The Daily will appear on Internet searches, but this appears to be more of an electronic Time magazine than a WSJ. It will also cost something. Not too much - a dollar a week or $40 a year - but it still crosses that crucial line from ‘free'.
For this reason the media world - especially print - will be watching this experiment with great interest. Even News Corp's competitors will be secretly hoping The Daily succeeds, because it will set the precedent for a desperately needed new business model. In much the same way Apple's success as an innovator quickly spawns an ecosystem of competitors.
"With The Daily, Rupert Murdoch has given us the chance to rethink the entire experience of news delivery and consumption," said publisher Greg Clayman. "The ability to actively listen to and engage with our audience means we can continually provide an experience that consumers value in this fast-evolving tablet space. Together with our customers, our advertising partners, and the team at The Daily, we are excited to create a new form of media."
The launch coincided with the last rites being administered to News Corp's most conspicuous, and expensive, foray into new media prior to this: MySpace. Murdoch spent half a billion dollars to buy MySpace in 2005, which was at the time the dominant social networking platform. Unfortunately for him, Mark Zuckerberg was also working on Facebook at the time and now owns that market.
There was nothing wrong with the thinking behind the MySpace acquisition - Murdoch was among the first to see what a threat user-generated content would be to traditional and ever new media business models. In fact, if he's been a bit slower he might have bought Facebook instead and now we'd all be heralding him as a genius.
PaidContent reported on a statement from the generously-moustached News Corp COO - Chase Carey. "...the plan to allow MySpace to reach its full potential may be best achieved under a new owner," he said. There followed a stream of double-speak from Chase about ‘right-sizing', which amounted to a desire by News Corp to wash its hands of MySpace and put the whole unsavoury episode behind it.
