Here’s something weird: the Apple iPad has managed to make cheap things expensive and expensive things cheap.
The expensive part’s easy. True story: I bought my first iPad because I had a meeting and I figured that displaying the pictures on it to the people around the table instead of trying to hook up a projector would make my presentation look, basically, more luxurious.
I didn’t get that deal, but I hold by that premise. More and more, people are using iPads at trade shows to collect email addresses, and even though the things have been out for a year and a half now, it’s still working. In the past, people wanted to touch the new thing. Now that more people have one, it’s a mark of quality that people want to identify with. In public.
But at the same time, the iPad’s made things cheaper. I can buy Kindle books for generally less than the print equivalent, and comics are something I’m watching closely as the major players move to same day digital. Now you’ve got something that used to be available only in print, at (a dwindling number of) collector’s shops, and you can download it and read it right away. The pricing is still being figured out, but in general, it’s cheaper than the print version right out of the gate.
Sure, a print edition might be more collectible, but those of us who studied just a tiny bit of math (and, uh, survived the 90’s collector bubble) have pretty much figured out that editions with print runs over a million aren’t going to be especially rare.
In the meantime, a book that used to sell for $3.99 now sells for $2.99, or $.99, or ultimately the 99 cent sweet spot that used to be reserved for mediocre hamburgers.
On a device that makes my horrible graphic mockups worth 30% more on the average pitch meeting.
Exciting times.
Leave a Reply