Robert Niles asks this question in the Knight Digital Media Center’s Online Journalism Review: What does Apple’s iAd format mean for news publishers? He states “Thanks to a generation of lousy ads for lousy products, many consumers have been conditioned to hate ads.” The link is to a Gizmodo article that says “From a user’s perspective, it’s absolutely horrifying” that “Apple Wants 1/8th of Your iPhone Back—Don’t Give It to Them.”
While the iPad has more screen real estate, and the ads in the Apple demo were elegant and interesting, time will tell whether the ads will turn the iPad into the “Jesus tablet” that some were predicting would save the publishing industry.
I want to know what you think of Apple’s announcement. – Kathy Sandler