Will anyone be reading comics on the ipad?

[spamn]

>Where is the nostalgia in turning on your computer to read a comic?

THERE'S a question: will they use a standard format, or go all fancy and come up with one of their own? If they do the latter, it could render your collection unreadable after a tech-shift or two. (I ask 'cos a lot of the folks who put old shows up online like to maintain "proprietership" by designing their own formats. I could see a big company trying the same.)

Don C.

That's a very scary issue.

There are a lot of electronic rights people fighting for the concept that what you buy is yours - and that you should have the right to view (or listen) to it on any platform of your choice by right of purchase. The problem with digital media is that it's currently more of a lease than a purchase, and the lease covers the format. Think - LP, cassette, CD, mp3 - why should you have to have bought the same album four times just because the technology changed? Especially when digitizing is relatively easy compared to pressing your own disks? It made a bit more sense when you were buying a physical THING that encoded the music. Not so much when what you're buying is a digital copy.

So comics becoming digital media is a scary prospect in that regard. When the technology shifts (or the format wars are over and we're stuck with the books in the losing format) are we going to be forced to rebuy everything just to be able to read it again? That's a pretty offensive concept to me. Not looking forward to Marvel and DC acting like Sony and everyone else who's backed the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

[samurainoir]

In regards to the collector vs reader. I think Collectors will be fine just as the readers will benefit from the jump to digital.

I few weeks back I had drinks with an interesting group of folks that included publishers, retailers and creators, as well as a handful of techie type guys. Based on the direction of that conversation, I'm beginning to believe that the future of the print format comic is indeed as the limited edition art/fetish object. Certainly not while our generation is still a spending it's dollars on print, but look at it this way... there is an entire generation right now hitting adulthood that have been reading off screens for as long as they have been able to read. They suckled on the teet of nintendo gameboys and socialize through their phones. If they do read off of paper, it will be "smart" paper that they can digitally download and store books/apps/games etc on a single sheet that they fold up in their pockets or dispose of quite easily when they are done with it.

[kingdom warrior]

In regards to the collector vs reader. I think Collectors will be fine just as the readers will benefit from the jump to digital.

I few weeks back I had drinks with an interesting group of folks that included publishers, retailers and creators, as well as a handful of techie type guys. Based on the direction of that conversation, I'm beginning to believe that the future of the print format comic is indeed as the limited edition art/fetish object. Certainly not while our generation is still a spending it's dollars on print, but look at it this way... there is an entire generation right now hitting adulthood that have been reading off screens for as long as they have been able to read. They suckled on the teet of nintendo gameboys and socialize through their phones. If they do read off of paper, it will be "smart" paper that they can digitally download and store books/apps/games etc on a single sheet that they fold up in their pockets or dispose of quite easily when they are done with it.

Well if that's the case Thank the good Lord for back issues....I can live off of those for the rest of my life.......who needs digital crap....

[samurainoir]

Just to show just how close the creator to reader comics experience could actually be in the future... Jim Lee draws live on his ipad via twitter.
Newsarama | Is iPad a Content Creation Device? JIM LEE Shows it Is!



taking followers through the steps of creating digital art from this...

[ctc]

>you should have the right to view (or listen) to it on any platform of your choice by right of purchase

You DO; and you can make as many copies of something you buy in whatever medium you want, for personal use. The problem is, with the advent of digital media companies can impede the process by making uncopyable stuff, stuff for specific readers, etc. Hence the fights for format dominance: whoever controls the software controls distribution.

Don C.

[samurainoir]

Speculation on the ipad's influence in Japan's book trade...
IPad May Be ‘Black Ship’ That Shakes Up Japan’s Book Industry - BusinessWeek