Apple may be counting on iPad content sales, with benefit to publishers

Monday Note
Looking at the $499 price for the base model iPad, and no mandatory 3G carrier contract, Jean-Louis Gassée sees Apple betting on content, sold in the iTunes store, as the revenue driver for the device. “Say I take 50% of what I spend on books … a conservative $50 a week divided by 2, times 30% (Apple’s royalty), times 52 weeks yields $390/year in net revenue (before expenses) to subsidize my iPad.” On the other end of that equation, the 70% of content sales kept by publishers would be $910/year.
>To Deliver, iPad Needs Media Deals (NYT)
>Analysis: iPad Is an iDRM Storefront For Apple Ambitions To Dominate All Digital Media Sales (Silicon Valley Watcher)
>What The iPad Means For Media Distribution In The Future (Entrepreneur Heat)