Josh Quittner, Editorial Director of Flipboard, is interviewed by NY Times columnist and reporter David Carr.
Josh Quittner: Flipboard founded by someone who loved magazines and wanted to create something that would display content as beautifuly as a magazine does. He felt that that browsers do not do this. Flipboard is part of the solution for publishers. Not just taking content because it helps publishiers capitalize on electronic media. Flipboard doesn’t survive unless magazine publishers survive. There are two types of publishers: essential, such as the NY Times; and relevant, which must be found everywhere. Publishing companies should not be in the technology business. They should create content that is relevant and prepared in such a way that it can be used in various revenue streams. These revenue streams may be smaller, but will aggregate to a larger take overall
iPad is a killer, is changing the way people are consuming content and the retina display makes it even better. Rolling out ads slowly and model is to let the publishers sell the ads. It’s tricky to sell ads because they have to appear in so many different formats. Want to have “beautiful” ads that will be full page. Flipboard makes money by taking a small percentage of ad revenue. Journalists are not being disintermediated because they need to create the stuff that Flipboard displays.
Revenue is further down the road for them. Over time will open it up. Have started with “high end” publishers whose values align with Flipboard. Tablet consumption occurs early in the morning and late at night and smartphone consumption is steady throughout the day. Thinks smartphone consumption will eventually overtake tablet consumption. Session times are about 8 to 10 times that of web browsing. What does Flipboard do for the journalist? It gives them a platform that they could not develop themselves. Legacy media companies should not be investing in technology because companies like Flipboard can do this for them. Carr disagrees with this and thinks need to do the technology in-house where possible and not rely on vendors.
Hopes that there is a place for Flipboard in the book world – it is a great sampling application. Will be some radically new stuff in the near future, but won’t say what.
