Apple planning to redefine print with 'new device' - AKA the Tablet

Apple is in talks with several media companies rooted in print, negotiating content for a new device, according to Gizmodo.

Two people related to the NYTimes said that the paper was approached by Apple in June for using its contents on a new device

The R&D labs have long worked on versions of the paper meant to be navigated without a keyboard or mouse, showing up on Windows tablets and on multiple formats using Adobe Air.

On a side note, Steve Jobs has called the NYTimes the best newspaper in the world.

Also reportedly contacted by Apple were publishing powerhouses McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press, who might be working together with Apple to make textbooks available on iTunes.

There was no mention of any more detail than that, but it does link back to a private Apple intern idea competition held on campus, in their Town Hall meeting area in 2008, where the winning presentation selected by executives was one focused on textbook distribution through iTunes, according to the report.

The logic here is that textbooks are sold new at a few hundred dollars, and resold by local stores without any kickbacks to publishers. A DRM’d one-time-use book would not only be attractive because publishers would earn more money, but electronic text books would be able to be sold for a fraction of the cost, cutting out book stores and creating a landslide marketshare shift by means of that huge price differential.