White Space Opportunities around Digital Textbooks

“Get NOOK Free!” reads the banner ad on the New York Times’ website. Barnes & Noble, creator of the NOOK e-reader, has partnered with the New York Times to give away its NOOK Simple Touch with a 1-year online subscription to the NYT. Why would Barnes & Noble give away a product that is already heavily discounted at $99? Simple: e-readers are not profitable products, they’re valuable service platforms.

As we’ve recently reported in Fast Company, incorporating services into traditionally product-centric “design, manufacture, market” models–or replacing the product entirely with services–allows companies to create value for their customers as well as their shareholders. In the instance of media, we’re seeing that by replacing physical products (books, CDs, DVDs) with digital equivalents, companies that create service platforms accessible via consumer electronics are able to capture revenues previously owned by retailers and publishers.

The closing of Borders and the declining sales at Barnes & Noble stores indicate that the digitzation of media isn’t a trend, but instead a shift towards a new model in which traditionally tech-centric firms (Apple) have entered the media business, and retailers (B&N) have entered the tech business. Keep Reading»

Tweets of the Week: Creative Leadership

This week, we focused our 140 characters on creative leadership, and the dynamic and inspiring visionaries whom have done so much to raise the bar for the rest of the field. Of course, it is not possible to discuss creative leadership without mentioning Steve Jobs and his recently announced resignation as CEO of the company he founded decades ago.In addition to the many great articles highlighting the magic that Jobs brought to an industry traditionally perceived as geeky and uncool, we wanted to share a few of the more interesting links around creative leadership that came across our radar this week. Continue Reading»

What’s Next for Apple?

In light of this jobweek’s Twitter topic of corporate finance, I find it relevant to comment on Apple’s third quarter earnings call and the $76 billion of cash that the technology manufacturer and retailer now has on its books.  Investors are clamoring for dividends or stock buyouts, and the blogosphere is lighting up with rumors of acquisitions, but the Designer-in-Chief Steve Jobs has yet to show his hand or capitulate to the demands of the masses.

Customers queue up outside of Manhattan Apple store. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Apple is the epitome of innovation in the consumer technology sector, and has grown from $7.8B in revenue in 2000 to more than $65B in 2010. Apple’s formula for success is equal parts disruptive and incremental innovation. The company introduces revolutionary, well-designed and intuitive products with relatively short shelf lives, as periodic rollouts of new models cannibalize sales of existing models.
Continue Reading»