The iPad: how will Apple’s latest gadget affect sales from your store?

Wow. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, says that his new company’s new iPad device is “extraordinary”, and if you take time to look at his launch presentation on the web you may agree. Will it kill the magazine and newspaper industry? Perhaps not – but it will change it!

For example, if you are on a journey, devices like this make it easy to watch a movie rather than flick through a magazine. Armed with an iPad are you going to read a book or watch YouTube? I reckon the latter.

News and views in magazines and papers are key footfall driver for many local shops. The iPad is yet another competitor for shoppers’ time. The biggest issue for local retailers is if its launch takes away the attention of publishers on making sure they do a good job for shoppers who like buying news and views from your store.