Lost Change
Responding to charges that media apps on the iPad lack real innovation, Bill Couch says there is room for improvement but that it will take time to learn how best to design for digital tablets. Couch, the lead designer for USA Today’s app, directed his comments at last week’s critique by Mark Potts who said “too many of them [media companies] have fallen into that same old trap, trying to replicate a print experience on the iPad’s screen.“
Couch suggests revisiting Pott’s concerns in a year once developers and readers have some hands-on time with the iPad.
“The platform isn’t even a month old, and we’re already critiquing what’s not been done with it? Developers realistically had but a generous month to quickly build these applications (without the devices to run them on, even!), attempting to effectively translate their content and the experience. Consumers should be so lucky to even have these media on the device at launch, and I’ll personally say that I’m tremendously impressed by the applications that were available at launch. Yes, some floundered, but on the whole, the offerings were (and are still) quite impressive.”
>USA Today iPad App Maximizes Familiarity, Leisurely Discovery (Poynter Online Mobile Media)
>USA Today to move to subscription iPad app (Poynter Online Mobile Media)
