I'm starting to see a trend here... Sir Richard Branson has jumped into the digital publishing arena. Branson and his company Virgin Digital Publishing will release "Project", a lifestyle publication, sold exclusively on the iPad. The publication is a monthly magazine that will give readers changing news, as often as "minute-by-minute". This is one great positive to digital publishing over traditional publishing. Digital publishing can be updated and changed quickly and at a moments notice. An author or reader does not have to wait a month for an update. Since the release of the iPad in April of 2009, traditional publishers have began to look at building digital readership instead of putting all their resources into developing print publications.While the headline of the article focuses on Branson and his new endeavor, what follows reaffirms what my two previous blog posts have stated. eReaders are becoming more popular and more affordable. This article from eCommerce Times states 55% of tablet or ereader owners are consuming more digital content then they expected. As preferences begin to shift from traditional to digital, publishers will be or are already beginning to strategically transition. How will this new model effect the traditional publisher? What strategic restructuring will need to take place? How with this restructuring affect the pricing structure of the ebook? The answers to these questions are too early to determine, but one thing is for sure, I'm seeing a strong trend favoring ereaders and epublications and this trend will continue as more publishers begin making more material accessible for these devices.
