Rolling Stone Co-founder Disses iPad

In an interview with Ad Age, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner said that magazine publishers who push for iPad versions of their publications are “crazy.”

While he does admit that the iPad is a good reading device, he doesn’t think it can be monetized as well as print. He told AdAge: “From the publisher’s point of view I would think they’re crazy to encourage it. They’re going to get less money for it from advertisers. Right now it costs a fortune to convert your magazine, to program it, to get all the things you have to do on there. And they’re not selling. You know, 5,000 copies there, 3,000 copies here, it’s not worth it. You haven’t put a dent in your R&D costs.”

Fishbowl NY points out that Wenner is biased towards print. Here is more from the blog: “Of course we all realize that this is Wenner, a guy who loves print almost to a fault, so everything he said needs to be taken with a grain – actually, make that a cup full – of salt. But beneath the iPad bashing he does have a good point: Publishers who are letting Apple dictate the terms will probably end up regretting it.”

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