The first of three pay-per-view webinars from Magazines Canada featured media
consultant Wayne MacPhail on the iPad and a new era of magazine
publishing.

The seminar, titled Magazines on the iPad: Sidebar or feature story, took place on May 19.

MastheadOnline, who quotes MacPhail as saying “Tablets are the new reality”, reports:

“The idea of computers not being as good as magazines because of things like they can’t take them to the beach just seems silly now,” said MacPhail. “Publishers need to think of tablets as the new paper, in three to five years the devices will get thinner.”

The webinar also touched on the challenges facing publishers who want to create an Apple application, MastheadOnline reports:

“Creating content for the iPad or other tablets is not cheap though, said MacPhail so publishers need to ask themselves why they want to develop an application, or if the same thing could be done in HTML 5 online. “The cost of creating an application depends on what you want, but programmer’s cost about $1500 a day and the projects last about 3 to 4 weeks,” he said.”

D.B. Scott writes in his Canadian Magazines blog:

“Magazines Canada has been pondering for some time the challenge of delivering professional development to far-flung people, particularly as recent research showed that work demands and travel costs have been making traditional seminars a harder sell, even when done periodically in various cities across the country. A recent study by Kim Pittaway found that there was an appetite for such distance education.”

The next two webinars are:

Getting Social: Using Social Media to Grow Your Brand
Amber Mac
June 17

Copyright 101
Warren Sheffer
June 29

Webinars are $25 (all 3 for $60) for Magazines Canada members and $35 (3 for $80) for non-members. Register online.