Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. owns an iPad but says it destroys jobs. (Photo Credits: Jackson: CC BY-ND/Selmarkblog; CC BY-SA/John.Karakatsanis/Flickr)

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) was for the iPad before he was against it. Just one month ago, Jackson lauded Apple’s groundbreaking tablet as a revolutionary educational tool. On Friday, however, iPad owner Jackson turned around and exclaimed before Congress that the iPad is a dangerous device that is “probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs,” reports the Huffington Post.

The iPad will kill publishing, says Jackson

The recent bankruptcy of Borders Books and the sea change toward textbookless campuses has the junior congressman from Illinois up in arms today, and the iPad is the catalyst.

“What becomes of publishing companies and publishing company jobs?” Jackson asked the House. “What becomes of bookstores and librarians and all of the jobs associated with paper? Well, in the not-too-distant future, such jobs simply won’t exist.”

Jackson also objected to China being the primary production source of iPad parts.

“There is no protection for jobs here in America to ensure that the American people are being put to work.”

Biting the hand that feeds the US

Business Insider points out that Jackson is not considering the wealth the iPad has generated – not only for Apple, but a wide variety of industries. MarketCues suggests that the iPad will prove to be the nexus from which a number of billion-dollar industries could conceivably spring. E-readers and the iPad provide publishers with myriad opportunities to create interactive textbooks while greatly reducing the costs of producing frequent new editions, a boon for students.

Traditional publishing is an old technology in need of evolution, suggests @Craigmod. The lessened environmental impact of digital publishing coupled with convenience and immediacy that e-books provide translates into good will plus e-commerce transactions. More than 65 percent of iPad owners use the device to read e-books, and the iPad generates more than $2 billion in total revenue per quarter, according to Morgan Stanley.

The revolution will be tablet-televised

Publishers must adapt to the revolution and not flip-flop like Jesse Jackson Jr. Amazon already sells more e-books than print books (per late 2010 figures). Similarly, iPad users also support periodicals. According to YUDU Media, iPad users spend as much as 30 times more time on sites like GQ.com, VanityFair.com and Wired.com via iPad app compared to a desktop computer browser. In fact, sales of the Wired.com iPad app surpassed the Wired print edition in late 2010.

As the iPad TV ad says, “It’s already a revolution, and it’s only just begun.” Jesse Jackson Jr. may have lost his invitation.

Sources

@Craigmod

The Hill

Huffington Post

MarketCues

Nieman Journalism Blog

Publishing Perspectives

Real Clear Politics

TSTC Publishing’s Book Business Blog

YUDU Media

Economies evolve, pontificators pontificate

Local bookstores face serious financial challenges in a struggle to survive. Image: Flickr / yosoynuts / CC-BY-ND

With over $431 million in sales and over 22 million units shipped in 2009, the e-reader market is exploding. This is leaving many wondering — can bookstores survive? The short answer is, with creative marketing and short-term loans, some bookstores might survive, but it won’t be easy.

Can bookstores survive major changes?

There are dozens of major challenges facing brick-and-mortar bookstores. E-readers are often called out as the biggest challenger to a traditional brick and mortar store. Estimates are that about 30 percent of books are currently sold online either in paper or e-book format. However, bookstores are already feeling the crunch — Borders, the original big chain bookstore, is restructuring in an effort to survive. Asking can bookstores survive is really asking if bookstores can find a way to capture a changing market of readers.

Financial challenges facing bookstores

Books, like many other retail products, are a high-cost product to keep on the shelves. Many independent bookstores end up taking out short-term loans just to meet overhead and inventory costs when sales aren’t making ends meet. From Baltimore, Maryland to Reno, Nevada, bookstores are having to find new ways to bring people in — most of which require longer hours and more employees, which in and of themselves cost money. Authors present another unique financial challenge, as they are often coming out of e-book deals with only pennies per copy for their life’s work.

Are e-books the solution for independent bookstores?

As the e-book market grows, some say that bookstores can survive by selling e-books. The Google e-bookstore offers an affiliate-style program that allows bookstores to get a portion of the sales of an e-book. Google puts these bookstores in a unique position of both competing against and making use of the Google system. Bookstores will not get nearly the margin they usually do on a product, but because the e-book does not require physical inventory, it may have lower overhead. The challenge is convincing customers to spend money through the online home of a local bookstore, rather than an internet juggernaut bookstore.

Soures:

Simba Information
Finding Dulcinea
Becker-Posner

Apple's iPad is now for sale at the birthplace of Kindle, which makes good financial sense for Amazon and further entrenches Apple's tablet PC dominance. Image: CC Tom Rafferty/Flickr

The Apple iPad is now available at Amazon, the cradle of Kindle, an e-reader the iPad has blown out of the water. The iPad debuted at Target last week and Amazon is the first online retailer to sell the “Kindle Killer” other than Apple. Analysts say the deal is good for both Amazon and Apple, which has built what is believed to be an insurmountable lead in the market for tablet PCs.

Amazon uses Kindle Killer to boost e-book business

Amazon is carrying all six models of Apple’s iPad. Lauren Indvik at Mashable said that although it seems counter-intuitive for Amazon to carry a product dubbed the Kindle Killer, it makes good financial sense. Indvik writes that Amazon’s e-books strategy is based on selling e-books, not e-readers. The company has created a Kindle app for iPad that works better and has more inventory than Apple’s iBooks app. Each iPad sale is a new opportunity to expand Amazon’s e-book business.

Bad news for would-be iPad killers

Apple’s iPad has been selling like hotcakes at Apple’s retail stores, the online Apple Store and at Best Buy. Its availability at Amazon doesn’t look good for companies like RIM, which is seeking to market its PlayBook as an iPad Killer. Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore told Fortune that the oncoming onslaught of competing products will “fall flat.” Whitmore said the iPad is up to 18 months ahead of the competition in content and two or more years ahead in media acquisition and integration. Apple leverages a growing advantage in scale to control the world’s tablet component supply chain and manufacturing capacity.

Why the iPad will prevail

The consumer confusion generated by a slew of iPad competitors competing on price will merely drive more people to the iPad, according to Darcy Travios at Forbes. It happened before with the iPod, which still has a market share of more than 70 percent. Travios writes that the secret to Apple’s success is a focus on the user experience while competitors focus on attributes like memory, storage, screen size, etc. People are willing to pay more for ease of use, simplicity and elegance. For Apple’s iPad, brand loyalty translates to market leadership.