Interactive Content Apps for Tablets, Smart Phones Create Revenue Opportunities
Some printers—especially those that serve the print needs of publishers—are already offering these services. Columbia, MD-based Cenveo Publisher Services recently added tablet and smartphone apps to their list of services. (See sidebar)
Program Apps vs. Content Apps
When most people talk about tablet or smartphone apps, they're usually thinking of programs like Angry Birds, Email, YouTube or mobile browsers. Such programs are the domain of software developers, however. A different class of app, focusing on content more than specialized computing tasks, is rapidly gaining the attention of book and magazine publishers. These content apps are more than just glorified print facsimiles. They offer an array of interactive media designed to engage the reader—ideally as an additional or supplemental experience for subscribers.
- Companies:
- Adobe Systems
- Cenveo Inc.
- Quark Inc.
John Parsons (john@intuideas.com), former Editorial Director of The Seybold Report, is an independent writer, ghostwriter, and editor. He is the co-author of the interactive printed textbook, Introduction to Graphic Communication, on the art, science and business of print, which has been adopted by Ryerson, Arizona State, the University of Houston, and many other schools and vocational training centers. Custom editions of the book are under consideration by major printing companies and franchises for internal training purposes.
