Fairfax boss: We were working on our iPad app before Steve Jobs had even been born
Fairfax boss Brian McCarthy is of course widely acknowledged to be a media visionary.
But Dr Mumbo had no idea just how much so, until viewing this video interview with the bigwig by journalist Paul McIntyre.
McCarthy informs the AdNews viewers that unlike other “noisy” publishers, Fairfax has been working hard behind the scenes on its iPad apps. (2m;30s on the video)
And how long for, asks McIntyre?
“We’ve been developing these apps for at least six, seven, eight months,” says McCarthy.
Which was impressive, seeing as at the time the interview was uploaded, only four months had elapsed since Apple announced the iPad.
A visionary indeed.
A bit harsh – people have known the iPad was coming for well over a year. Apple merely confirmed it with their official announcement.
Too much snark for a Friday before a long weekend, Dr Mumbs!
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It’s pretty clear he is talking about both iPhone and iPad apps, which they have been developing for that long. Bit of a fail there Mumbrella
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Just to echo the previous comments: it is pretty well-known that the major publishing/media companies were made aware of the iPad long before any official announcement because Apple wanted to provide some time for suitable apps to be developed.
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Bollox. You honestly think Fairfax was the first company that Apple called?
Why haven’t they launched it yet then?
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If he was really talking about iPhone apps, surely that would have been far more than eight months ago?
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Will Fairfax Ipad apps auto refresh like their websites?
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Brian is a genius, no doubt about it.
Look at all the paper and ink he saves by selling so many fewer copies of the Age and SMH.
Look at the way he cut Age staffing by half, then moved the survivors into a new space that is three times larger than needed, thereby avoiding lawsuits from employees who suffer from claustrophobia and maintaining the showroom sheen on all those empty desks.
Look at his papers’ habit of running feature material that has already appeared elsewhere — a bold move to reassure conservative readers that they will seldom be confronted by little that is new.
Look at the way he has steadfastly refused to elevate a journalist to the board. This allows him to concentrate on running a publishing company without ever having to consider what he actually publishes.
Look at the way he ceded $20 million in advertising to Anthony Catalano’s startup. Those real estate agents with their bloody chequebooks, they can distract a fellow from the real business of declining to notice how dim his editors really are.
Look at the Financial Review, which had a lot of trouble competing for PANPA awards with large-circ papers like the Oz, SMH, AGE, Herald Sun etc. By retaining editors who have driven down sales by more than 25% over five years, the Fin can now clean up against the Geelong Addy, Newcastle Herald and the like. Now that’s re-positioning!
And look most of all at his sefless nature. BeforeMcCarthy came on the scene, it was generally agreed that Fred Hilmer was the biggest dill in publishing. Now Fred merely runs a close second.
Mumbrella, you should run a reader sweepstakes: Guess the date when The Age goes out of business and win four dozen of the giveaway carry bags my local newsagent had to consign to the trash.
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