Amarillo Newspaper 'Springs Into 20th Century'
Thurgood Washington, Freelance Contributor
August 1, 2012
Amarillo’s sole source for newsprint today announced that its content would now be available on the popular iPad. “This is a great leap for us,” gushed publisher Les Sincere. “By making our paper available on the iPad, we have convincingly jumped into the 20th Century.”
The move to publishing on the iPad has not been without its problems. “We had to reconfigure our presses to print on that small surface,” explained John Nonalis, “and we will need to distribute magnifying glasses to most of our customers so that they can read the 2 point font we had to use to get all the news onto those little rascals.”
Other problems included the added weight that paperboys would contend with in the distribution chain. Printing the newspaper on iPads requires as many as four of the Apple devices. “Five, if you want to print the obituaries,” said Sincere. “Paper delivery persons will probably have to modify their bicycles to carry the increased bulk of the iPads,” he added. On the brighter side, the news organization believes that the iPads can be recycled, unlike traditional newsprint. “You won’t find these things lining the bottoms of bird cages,” noted Nonalis.
Readers who want their news delivered on the iPad will see some increase in their subscription price. “Given the $500 cost per unit times four units a day, we think we’ll have to raise subscription prices to around $60,000 per month,” explained Sincere. The long-time publisher believes that there will nevertheless be a robust market for the new service. “There are lots of folks in town who can afford this upgrade—plastic surgeons, oil barons, school superintendents, folks like that.” Additionally, the paper has already installed recycling bins in most alleys in town so that environmentally sensitive readers can recycle the iPad units, which should reduce the price considerably. According to Nonalis, the recycling effort has been somewhat hampered by a rash of thefts of the recycled devices. “I guess there’s some kind of use for those things that we haven’t thought of yet,” he noted.
August 1, 2012
Amarillo’s sole source for newsprint today announced that its content would now be available on the popular iPad. “This is a great leap for us,” gushed publisher Les Sincere. “By making our paper available on the iPad, we have convincingly jumped into the 20th Century.”
The move to publishing on the iPad has not been without its problems. “We had to reconfigure our presses to print on that small surface,” explained John Nonalis, “and we will need to distribute magnifying glasses to most of our customers so that they can read the 2 point font we had to use to get all the news onto those little rascals.”
Other problems included the added weight that paperboys would contend with in the distribution chain. Printing the newspaper on iPads requires as many as four of the Apple devices. “Five, if you want to print the obituaries,” said Sincere. “Paper delivery persons will probably have to modify their bicycles to carry the increased bulk of the iPads,” he added. On the brighter side, the news organization believes that the iPads can be recycled, unlike traditional newsprint. “You won’t find these things lining the bottoms of bird cages,” noted Nonalis.
Readers who want their news delivered on the iPad will see some increase in their subscription price. “Given the $500 cost per unit times four units a day, we think we’ll have to raise subscription prices to around $60,000 per month,” explained Sincere. The long-time publisher believes that there will nevertheless be a robust market for the new service. “There are lots of folks in town who can afford this upgrade—plastic surgeons, oil barons, school superintendents, folks like that.” Additionally, the paper has already installed recycling bins in most alleys in town so that environmentally sensitive readers can recycle the iPad units, which should reduce the price considerably. According to Nonalis, the recycling effort has been somewhat hampered by a rash of thefts of the recycled devices. “I guess there’s some kind of use for those things that we haven’t thought of yet,” he noted.
