Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - January 4, 2011
Magazine publishers are sure that 2011 is the year of the tablet. Again. According to the New York Times, last year was supposed to be the year of the tablet but it wasn’t because not enough people owned the devices. Now, that trend is poised to change with some suggesting that we are close to a “reading boom.” Lack of critical tablet mass is one theory as to why last year wasn’t all that great for digital versions of magazines. Others think that publishers just didn’t get it right. After the novelty of the magazine app wore off—and it wore off quickly, according to Frédéric Filloux at Monday Note—sales of iPad magazine apps dropped significantly from June to November. Why?
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - October 18, 2010
Having just sent the November 2010 print issue of design mind to the printer, I think it’s an appropriate time to ask, “What the heck are we still doing in the print business?” It’s not easy building a magazine, I can tell you that. And it’s not cheap (though that depends on how frequently one publishes and what kind of creative resources one has access to; we go to press two times a year and have a company full of creatives with plenty of diverse points of view). So what’s the deal? Why do we bother, especially when the iPad and other tablets seem to be starting a new, lucrative, and broadly appealing chapter in magazine publishing?
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - August 10, 2010
kress report, a leading German trade magazine for the media industry, interviewed frog’s Chief Creative Officer Mark Rolston on tablet PC’s, the future of journalism, and how the computer will change human behavior and further increase the importance of content.
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - October 9, 2009
NPR's "Digital Think In" is underway at frog's San Francisco with about 75 media and technology leaders across a variety of disciplines helping the public media company envision the next stage of a digital media strategy. Hosted and facilitated by frog design, this one-day interactive workshop is exploring alternative business models, news gathering opportunities and distribution outlets, as well as develop scenarios for NPR's digital future.
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - October 23, 2008
In the past two weeks, there’s been at least a dozen stories in the mainstream and not-so-mainstream media about the importance of innovation in a recession. For businesses, refocusing on R&D and innovation really is a good strategy in down times. There’s plenty of historic evidence to back the claim up (the invention of farming technologies and civil engineering breakthroughs in the Great Depression, alternative energy investments in the early 1970s, and a sharpening of Internet business models after the dot com bust in the late 90s).
