Comments on: Why the iPhone shines as an e-reader—especially for newspapers

By: r4i

r4i — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:35:59 +0000

It may not be a picnic to set up… but once done, it’s a lot easier to deal with one style sheet than than nine versions of the same content.

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:28:28 +0000

I get all my news from the New York Times, on my iPhone. I’ll confess I don’t use the app, rather, I just have their mobile site bookmarked. But I still love it and read the news several times a day, depending on what’s going on in the world.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I picked up a print newspaper!

By: Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:06:20 +0000

Sure, David… but how many dedicated apps are you going to depend on a service to provide? Do they need to do a web version, a Kindle version, an iPhone version, a flip-phone version, a Playstation version, a speech version, a TTY version, a… see what I mean?

One XML-based web version, with a style sheet designed to customize the content to your device, should be all that any service needs to provide. When properly done, it can also encapsulate editions for storage and later use, as well as make old editions available for use when you need them.

It may not be a picnic to set up… but once done, it’s a lot easier to deal with one style sheet than than nine versions of the same content.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:44:49 +0000

Hey, Steve, that’s fine except for the “Period.” Readers need a variety of approaches. With a Web site, access is near-universal. On the other hand, with the right dedicated app, people can do things such as file away editions for consumption later on.

Thanks,
David

By: Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:36:39 +0000

The whole mobile world doesn’t use iPhones.

Exactly. All these specialized iPhone apps won’t be worth squat when the electronics industry gives us the Next Big Thing (in probably about 3 years). But news orgs with well-organized web sites will play on everything.

So instead of trying to con the newspapers into wasting time on a brand new architecture every 5 years or so, tell them to design a good web site. Period.