iTunes Newspaper and Magazine Subscriptions Could Change Media Forever

For a long time, people have been wondering if the internet will take over print media. Now the concern is more with how print media companies are going to make money off their content when people can get the same information for free online.

With the introduction of Apple's new iPad, this question is becoming a bigger concern. People can download content instantly from anywhere, music, movies and virtually anything else.

Currently, print media companies can create their own iTunes apps and upload their content onto them to get people reading it on mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone. According to this article though, there's no real guidance for companies to do this effectively.

There's been recent talk that iTunes will be creating a "Newspaper and Magazine Stand" for the world's biggest companies to sell subscriptions from. While there are already apps such as Pulse and Zinio that provide some content, this would be like a digital news stand for all content.

This could bring about huge changes for print media companies and the way the world consumes their media. These are some changes I could see coming:

1. People would not only have instant access to information online, but using this one app the would know that they were getting credible information

2. Print media companies already have their own website, most including their daily or weekly works, but they would now also manage their app version of their content. This would include adaptions such as more embedded videos and podcasts. According to this article, many newspapers are already willing to do this.

3. It seems that currently most media companies are hesitating to charge for online subscriptions because no one else has done it yet. If iTunes created this app, everyone would upload their content on it and begin charging at the same time, so it would make the transition from print to online easier.

4. There would of course be some problems, such as companies still wanting to reach out to older generations who still prefer print versions.

I think that an official iTunes app for newspapers and magazine subscriptions is a great idea. While it would take a lot of adjusting from companies at first, this is a transition we can't avoid forever.