Whats In It For Steve?
Tablet speculation mostly centers on what’s in it for the user, and third parties, including the print media. But the key is what’s in it for Apple — more specifically, what’s in it for CEO Steve Jobs. We think there’s one thing that makes an Apple Tablet inevitable: Jobs is considering his legacy, and he wants it to include saving the media, pulling it back from the brink at its darkest moment. Many have defined the problem — people are abandoning old media for new in droves — but nobody has come remotely close to figuring out the formula to monetize this audience in a way that ensures the range and level of news and periodical content and offers the rich experience advertisers will pay a premium to be part of. Pulling it off would take characteristic Apple hardware/software flair — and a bit of uncharacteristic magnanimity. But the “X” factor is Jobs himself. Whatever you believe about his health, Jobs will not live forever. We’re guessing that he, like all high achievers, believ
