When the tablet market launched two years ago, it was a decidedly luxury buy. Since then, tablets have become more of a mainstream purchase, as the Apple iPad has dropped in price and less costly Android-based tablets and the Amazon Kindle Fire have come on the market. Apple still has the leadership position, but its dominance has softened. In September 2011, two in 10 prospective tablet buyers reported they weren’t considering an iPad; six months later, that figure had risen to almost three in 10. Meanwhile, the Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab and HP TouchPads and Sony Tablets, with their own strong brands and e-commerce opportunities, have emerged as the top challenges to the iPad.Infographic: Carlos Monteiro Continue reading →

This cover raised the bar—can you believe that was in was 2008? Sex sells. If it bleeds, it leads. There is value to shock—you don't have to be slinging dirt for TMZ to understand that. Some of the most controversial images ever printed didn't land on Penthouse or Hustler (though who can forget that lady-in-the-meat-grinder illustration?) but instead graced the covers of respected newsweeklies like Time and Newsweek, and magazines like Rolling Stone. It's hard to believe it's already been four years since Barack Obama—stylized as an al-Qaeda terrorist—fist-bumped a machine-gun-toting, Afro-and-fatigues-adorned First Lady Michelle on the cover of The New Yorker. But as can be seen from the recent controversy (and satire) surrounding Time's breastfeeding image, publishers are still actively pushing the proverbial envelope. ... Continue reading →

Times may be tough for newsweeklies on the advertising and circulation fronts, but they’re having a bit of fun lately. While Time and Bloomberg Businessweek collected top honors from their journalistic peers, Time and Newsweek reveled in the attention they got for their controversial covers. While some were quick to point to these and other sensational covers as a sign of a desperation for magazines, others see a resurgence of conceptual and other experimental cover treatments, and with it, reason for optimism about the medium. Notably, in the Society for Publication Designers’ just-named 2012 awards, all 15 of the cover award finalists were idea covers. The concept cover—whose current enthusiasm is driven by a handful of weeklies, like the Richard Turley-designed Businessweek and Tina Brown’s ... Continue reading →

Mark Zuckerberg has long encouraged other industries to follow the lead of the gaming business, which he believes has been transformed by social media. The Facebook CEO often points to companies like Zynga, which have built massive businesses entirely on Facebook’s platform, as a model for industries like music, books and of course, media. Over the past year or so, Facebook began intensifying its courtship of the media industry. So far, media definitely finds Facebook attractive but seems afraid of getting hurt. In fact, while it seems clear that while Facebook and the media business are becoming further intertwined, media has so far rebuffed Facebook’s larger ambition—to be the place where media is consumed, talked about and shared for the majority of Web users. Take ... Continue reading →

SpecsAge 28New gig Publisher, editor in chief, The New RepublicOld gig Facebook co-founder, Obama campaign strategist, founder of JumoAfter Facebook and Washington, what’s it like to be part of the old-media establishment? It’s completely different from the startup world. TNR is one of those big institutions, but in some ways, we’re a bit of a startup. We’re trying to build a sustainable business model for the next 10 to 20 years, which is going to be a challenge. But you look at The Atlantic, The Economist—there are traditional print models that are flourishing. I feel like there’s a hunger out there for big-idea journalism. Book sales are at an all-time high. The magazines I’m talking about, all their print numbers are up. Not to overstate ... Continue reading →