Apple's Publishing Tax is a Good Thing

Earlier this year, Apple announced a subscription management platform for digital publishers. Publishers are required to use Apple's service if they want to sell subscriptions-based apps and Apple will get a 30% cut on all subscriptions purchased through their platform. Subscriptions through a outside channel are not subject to a 30% fee, but publishers must not advertise or link to outside channels. It is a tax on content publishing, and it is a good thing for the web.

It has been 5 months since the plan was announced. Apple has finally started to require publishers to remove all links to outside sales channels. Publishers have been unhappy since the announcement of the plan, and now they have begun to seriously explore using web browsers to deliver contents to users.

Today, you can find web based alternatives to apps such as The Financial Times (with an interest claim of "the web app is faster and better"), Kobo is set to release a web based e-reader later this year, and Hearst publishing has launched a web app edition of Marie Claire. The truth is that the web has always been the most natural way for publishers and consumers to connect, and Apple's subscription tax is helping publishers realize that.

I've always been puzzled by the idea of selling a digital magazine or news app. But publishers seem to disagree. They seem to think it is a good idea and have been paying developers lots of money to churn them out. The rush to build magazine apps are not driven by consumer demand, but by hot shot executives who are paid to take risks and try out crazy ideas. The web has always been the better method for publishing, but has been neglected due to the sudden popularity of the iPad. Thanks for Apple's subscription tax, executives are finally turning their heads to look at the boring, yet sensible platform of browser-based technologies.

Before the iPad, no one would even consider the idea of building a native app for their magazines. Think of the idea of downloading a special Windows program just so you can read Car and Driver - it just sounds ridiculous. But publishers are building iPad versions of native apps. What's different about iPad apps? The difference is that 1. Windows-based digital apps have been tried and I'll bet publishers realize they are a waste of money and 2. We can agree as long time Windows users that the idea of replacing a web site with a dedicated Windows program is utterly ridiculous. We'd like to believe the iPad is going to be different. But it won't.

One reason why people build iPad magazine apps is the misconception that you need a native app for a good user experience. This is simply not true. Web apps such as the Financial Times, Facebook and Gmail shows that you can build quality UI in the browser. For most cases of publishing, a native app is simply not necessary.

The misconception comes mostly from the fact that most web sites are simply horrible on the iPad. Most web sites are still being coded with IE and a desktop monitor in mind. This is simply inexcusable. The fact is that tables are going to be the primary media consumption device for a long time, and if you are bringing your A-game, you would have an iPad optimized site.

Lastly, the fact is that iPad apps have been great gimmicks. As proud new owners of the latest digital gadget, there is a sense of thrill when you download a new fancy app with cool graphics and fancy effects. But cheap thrill fades quickly, and ultimately people are going to prefer using the web as their main way of accessing content. Ultimately, readers are not going to care about what you can do in an app - they want content and the easiest way for them to get it is via the web.

I think over the next year we are going to see many more publishers create iPad optimized sites.
Companies that focus their resources on the browser and developers who come up with innovative ways of enabling good user experience on the web are going to be a step ahead of their competitors. They may not have an iPad app to brag about, but what they will have at the end of the day is more users, more ad revenue opportunities, and more potential subscribers.