Eccentric but effective Steve Jobs pitches iPad to NYT execs
Apple booked a quiet dinner reception for fifty executives at the New York Times, but the VIP guest ended up being Steve Jobs.
The gathering, as reported by New York magazine, was booked at Pranna, a cellar basement restaurant featuring a southeast Asian menu. The restaurant wasn't tipped off that Jobs himself would be in attendance.
The Apple executive reportedly arrived wearing a ?a very funny hat ? a big top hat kind of thing,? and ordered penne pasta with a mango lassi to drink, sending the staff scrambling to accommodate his unusual request. Jobs sat at the head of the table of Times executives as he demonstrated the iPad's functionality to executives in an "intimate, family-style gathering."
While newspaper executives are reportedly wary of entering into an exclusive deal that they fear might install Apple as the content broker of print media in the same model as iTunes' music and video businesses, they're also facing tough times monetizing their content as the Internet eats away at their display ad model.
After decades of selling their own ad space in print, they're now facing the problem of trying to make money on the web, where Google dominates ad sales and advertising space is effectively in infinite supply, and therefore worth very little. Jobs is pitching iTunes' paid downloads model to print and broadcast media companies with the iPad, an idea they like but also fear, apparently much more so than the alternative of Google's virtual monopoly on online ads.
Jobs faced similar fears in hammering out deals with music and movie executives, which balked at the company's plans to sell their content without ads at relatively low prices to an audience millions of iTunes users.
Music labels' own digital plans all failed until they teamed up with Apple in the new iTunes Store. Immediately after the company saved their future however, they began complaining about the control Apple exercised over prices and marketing, demanding that users buy songs only in albums and lobbying for "variable pricing" that would give the label suits the power to charge more for new acts and threaten their own talent with cheap pricing that would devalue their work if they didn't play the labels' game.
Movie studios similarly dragged their heels in joining the iTunes Store, with early adopters limiting the number of movies they made available and worrying about the prospect of digital downloads and then rentals hurting their lucrative DVD sales. Jobs used his influence at Disney to help pave the way for broader adoption of iTunes by other studios, but it still took years to win the movie executives over.
In print media, Jobs is now working to convince publishers to embrace digital distribution, particularly for the new larger format iPad, although Jobs also reportedly said "he likes to hold the Sunday edition in his hands."
Jobs has also brokered deals with booksellers and continues to talk with print and broadcast publishers about getting their content in iTunes and customized for use with the iPad. Clayton Morris of Fox News just tweeted today that Jobs had made an appearance at his company: "It's not everyday you walk into work and see Steve Jobs standing there."
The gathering, as reported by New York magazine, was booked at Pranna, a cellar basement restaurant featuring a southeast Asian menu. The restaurant wasn't tipped off that Jobs himself would be in attendance.
The Apple executive reportedly arrived wearing a ?a very funny hat ? a big top hat kind of thing,? and ordered penne pasta with a mango lassi to drink, sending the staff scrambling to accommodate his unusual request. Jobs sat at the head of the table of Times executives as he demonstrated the iPad's functionality to executives in an "intimate, family-style gathering."
While newspaper executives are reportedly wary of entering into an exclusive deal that they fear might install Apple as the content broker of print media in the same model as iTunes' music and video businesses, they're also facing tough times monetizing their content as the Internet eats away at their display ad model.
After decades of selling their own ad space in print, they're now facing the problem of trying to make money on the web, where Google dominates ad sales and advertising space is effectively in infinite supply, and therefore worth very little. Jobs is pitching iTunes' paid downloads model to print and broadcast media companies with the iPad, an idea they like but also fear, apparently much more so than the alternative of Google's virtual monopoly on online ads.
Jobs faced similar fears in hammering out deals with music and movie executives, which balked at the company's plans to sell their content without ads at relatively low prices to an audience millions of iTunes users.
Music labels' own digital plans all failed until they teamed up with Apple in the new iTunes Store. Immediately after the company saved their future however, they began complaining about the control Apple exercised over prices and marketing, demanding that users buy songs only in albums and lobbying for "variable pricing" that would give the label suits the power to charge more for new acts and threaten their own talent with cheap pricing that would devalue their work if they didn't play the labels' game.
Movie studios similarly dragged their heels in joining the iTunes Store, with early adopters limiting the number of movies they made available and worrying about the prospect of digital downloads and then rentals hurting their lucrative DVD sales. Jobs used his influence at Disney to help pave the way for broader adoption of iTunes by other studios, but it still took years to win the movie executives over.
In print media, Jobs is now working to convince publishers to embrace digital distribution, particularly for the new larger format iPad, although Jobs also reportedly said "he likes to hold the Sunday edition in his hands."
Jobs has also brokered deals with booksellers and continues to talk with print and broadcast publishers about getting their content in iTunes and customized for use with the iPad. Clayton Morris of Fox News just tweeted today that Jobs had made an appearance at his company: "It's not everyday you walk into work and see Steve Jobs standing there."
Comments
It continues to exist because Carlos Slims, the Mexican billionaire, continues it's existence at his cost.
On September 10, 2008 Slim announced that he had purchased a 6.4 percent common-stock stake in The New York Times Company, making him the largest shareholder not related to the company's owners, the Sulzberger family.[10]
Then, on January 19, 2009, the financially-troubled Times Company announced that it had accepted a $250 million loan from Slim.[11] While the loan will help ease the company's cash flow problems, it does not come close to eliminating the Times Company's $1.1 billion debt.[11] The company's continuing financial problems and Slim's ongoing interest in its work, as evidenced by his two interventions in the course of five months, has led to speculation that he might be contemplating an outright takeover of the Times Company.[12] A spokesman for Slim told reporters in January 2009 that the Times loan was an investment opportunity "that makes financial sense."[13]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim
My point is a niche product isn't going to help the Times all that much, they are bleeding cash from all angles. People in general are satisfied with the free content online that just about equals what the Times produces.
What people are willing to pay for is information that really gets them ahead and not similarly offered online from numerous sources.
Take textbooks for instance, it's a expensive cost, but the information in it is going to change a persons life and income for the better.
If the NY Times was offered for FREE to the iPad, with the income coming from display ads, perhaps it would work.
I think Steve is having trouble convincing the papers to get on board, but once one does, they all will as to have a voice on the platform.
The Apple executive reportedly arrived wearing a ?a very funny hat ? a big top hat kind of thing,?
Not trying to paint Steve in a bad light, just a random thought that popped into my head as I read this article.
Oh, and in case anyone is interested (it's non alcoholic
Mango Lassi Recipe:
INGREDIENTS
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
4 teaspoons sugar, to taste
A dash of ground cardamom (optional)
METHOD
Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve. Can sprinkle with a little cardamom.
The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
Makes about 2 cups.
...1 cup chopped mango...
Mango's give one the hershey squirts, but the yogurt and milk should counter that.
Yes, we go that low here.
Nice job
Then again, I find the idolatry of Jobs quite creepy at times.
Get'em Steve.
STEVE is a great guy
APPLe will save the times
Steve Jobs is still as hungry as ever... striving to sell his new product as if it was that first Apple computer out of the garage. All this after he was instrumental in the design and engineering of the product.
This is what makes a great CEO of a great company. This is why he is admired worldwide.
Apple rocks!
Way to go Steve! Way to go Apple!
The big question is, why does the New York Times have 50 freaking executives?
Because it's been owned and ran by the Sulzberger family for generations, so far removed from the original blood and sweat that founded it.
What it needs is new blood, Carlos Slim may buy it, but it's hard to make a go of something when the internet is supplying the same content for free.
I don't think Steve white knighting in is going to change anything, especially with a high priced device.
People already can get newpapers PDF-ed to their everyday computers, only a niche will buy a iPad for that.
I only reason I see Steve there at the Times is to get free press, NY is a very large target market and slim reading devices like the iPad actually might work well in a city environment where portable space is at a premium and laptops just too clunky and vulnerable.
Oh yes, Steve envisions people on the subway and in cabs reading the NY Times on their iPads.
The controls are simple and large, easy to use. Perfect.
Once he takes of with that, he moves into other areas.
This is one of the things that sets Apple's CEO apart from the rest.
Steve Jobs is still as hungry as ever... striving to sell his new product as if it was that first Apple computer out of the garage. All this after he was instrumental in the design and engineering of the product.
This is what makes a great CEO of a great company. This is why he is admired worldwide.
Apple rocks!
Way to go Steve! Way to go Apple!
Exactly. This is what people don't get. He's passionate about what he does for a living, and never gives up. When down, he gets up, dusts himself off, and keeps right on going.....
Seriously, one day there's going to be a movie about Steve Jobs, he's like the Walt Disney of the tech industry!
....and, one might add, the Energizer bunny.
Many of us will be around to miss it some day.
Did anyone report on what ply toilet tissue was issued in the bathroom in the restaurant? It's only slightly less important than this story, but still a little relevant.
Two, according to my source. Glad to fill you in.
.. iPad actually might work well in a city environment where portable space is at a premium .....
Huh? What does that mean?
Are you even aware of what you write?
Apple saves print media!
This is gonna be HUGE. Apple is replicating their iTunes music biz in book/print form.
If your content isn't being distributed by Apple, it's just not being distributed. This is the order of things.
Seriously, one day there's going to be a movie about Steve Jobs, he's like the Walt Disney of the tech industry!
Why hasn't there been a movie about Walt? Maybe Steve should ask Disney to make it. There's some kind of symmetry there.
Huh? What does that mean?
Are you even aware of what you write?
Perhaps you should use the Dictionary to look up "portable" "space" and "at a premium"
also "environment" (big word there!)
perhaps even "city"
If you don't understand, there's always MacDaily News where you can post your dribble.
click the link here