Ertblog

Why Apple's iPad won't save newspapers

Apple's announcement of its iPad tablet computer was the anti-climax of the decade. Weeks of hype drained the event of any sense of excitement. 

For me, the biggest mystery is how the iPad can live up to expectations that it will rescue the world's newspaper publishers from oblivion. The New York Times has created an app for the device, in the hope that the cavalry has arrived. But the problem facing traditional media groups is that circulation and advertising revenues are in sharp decline. At the same time, consumers are unwilling to pay for online content after growing used to getting it for free. It seems perverse logic to suggest that the answer to consumers' refusal to pay for content is to tell them to spend £500 on an extra computer plus a subscription for online material. 

The iPad looks gorgeous, but I'm far from convinced that there is a sizeable market for it. Apple fans point to the Cupertino company's success in seizing the MP3 and mobile phone sectors. But these were well established and popular markets. The tablet has existed for a decade or more without moving beyond a niche. There are good reasons for this. It's too big to become a constant companion, but not big or capable enough to become a workhorse, like a laptop. 

I can't help wondering also whether the brilliance of the iPhone might actually hinder rather than help the chances of the iPad. Apart from size, what extra does the iPad offer? Why should I pay an extra monthly bill from O2 or Vodafone for 3G data when I'm already paying them for the iPhone? And when I travel for work, I can't see myself packing an iPad as well as a laptop and the iPhone. 

What about e-books? Again, it seems unlikely that the iPad will persuade huge numbers of people to give up printed books for electronic versions. The printed book retains a huge advantage. It's portable, robust and attractive. I can read it in the bath or an a plane that's taking off. It's easy to flick to the photo section or index in seconds. And few things match the pleasure of picking up an old favourite on the bookshelf. Oh, and after a day staring at a computer screen, a book is a soothing companion at bedtime. 

No one should underestimate Apple's ability to create demand for its gorgeous products. But the iPad is its biggest challenge yet. It still strikes me as a solution in search of a problem. 

Why Waterstone's is struggling

Twenty years ago, Waterstone's was my dream bookstore. I loved browsing my (then) local stores in Richmond and Kingston. But in recent years the chain has lost its way. It was no surprise to read in The Guardian that it had a very poor Christmas.

The Guardian's report says people are browsing but not buying. And they're taking photos on their mobile phones of book covers in store to see if the titles are cheaper on Amazon.

I plead guilty to taking photos. But I'm more likely to be getting ideas for birthday or Christmas presents than bargain hunting. Waterstone's is struggling because it has been badly managed. I hate the practice - copied from rival Books etc - of having tables of books dominating the store, rather than decent displays of the latest titles. Those tables seem to carry a muddled selection of titles: fiction, non-fiction, new releases, 3 for 1 offers. I usually lose interest and walk out.

But more serious is the limited selection. I'm a regular visitor to the Richmond Waterstone's again after a gap of 15 years now I work just round the corner. But I'm invariably disappointed to discover the store doesn't stock the business, tech or current affairs title I'm after. By contrast, a quick search on Amazon or eBay comes up trumps, which means I'm more likely to buy online rather than order the title in Waterstone's. And even that option is flawed: I recently tried to order a BBC audio book in Waterstone's, only to be told they couldn't find it. Two days later, it arrived at my door ... from Amazon.

I wish Waterstone's well. It's still one of my favourite stores. But the fact I've still not spent a birthday gift token from the chain after almost three months is not a good sign. Once upon a time, to use a traditional storytelling opening, I'd have spent it in minutes not months.

Altnaharra: warm memories of a very cold place

I suspect most people had never heard of Altnaharra until the big freeze last week. The tiny village in the Scottish Highlands recorded a teeth-tingling low temperature of minus 22.3C on Thursday night. But that was positively tropical compared with the minus 27.2C it endured in 1995: Britain's lowest ever recorded low, matched only by Braemar the previous decade.

I have fond memories of the place. I cycled through it in June 2002 on my Land's End to John O'Groats bike ride, near the end of a 1,060 mile odyssey. I was stunned by the hauntingly stark beauty of the region. We had stopped for lunch at the Crask Inn, a rather basic pub in the middle of nowhere on a narrow road north towards the north coast. The weather had been surprisingly good, though the sky threatened a deluge. I would have loved a photo of me cycling along the lonely valley road to Altnaharra, a mere spot on the landscape.

Even on a bike, it's possible to pass through Altnaharra without even noticing it. But I did reflect from my Raleigh Randonneur that was a rather nice village, but extraordinarily isolated. At the village crossroads, I turned right to the even quieter lane that led to Loch Naver, Syre and Bettyhill. The weather closed in as I passed the loch, and was very wet as I climbed the hill to the Bettyhill hotel.

Before you dismiss Altnaharra as an ice station, the village was actually the warmest place in Britain in March 2009 at a heady 18.5C.

Boiler packed up? Don't worry, says British Gas, your baby will generate his own heat

My heart sank when our boiler packed up tonight. The coldest winter for years, with no end in sight to the big freeze. Not the time to test our expensive Homecare policy with British Gas. 

So it proved. The soonest British Gas could offer an engineer visit was next Wednesday - five days' time. The only advice the guy on the phone offered was pouring water over an outlet pipe. Needless to say, that made no difference apart from making my feet wet. When I said we had an 18 month old baby, the British Gas man came up with the priceless advice that an 18 month old baby would generate his own body heat. In other words, go away and shiver for five days.

I then asked if British Gas would refund my premiums if I could find someone locally who could get the boiler going again. Oh no. 

Now I appreciate these are busy times for central heating engineers - I'm sure we're not the only household whose heating has packed up. And it's only right that priority should be given to the elderly. But this experience has confirmed my suspicion that we were conned into taking out a British Gas Homecare policy. There's no point in having this cover unless it actually rides to the rescue when you need help. We won't be renewing. Instead, we'll save the £338 for a local supplier who actually provides a service.

UPDATE: British Gas customer service called earlier to apologise for its agent's 'unacceptable' comments, and promise to pay us £30 - but not an earlier appointment. We're running a collection of ancient electric fires, moving them around the house with us. It reminds me of a very cold night at university, in January 1985, when four of us huddled in our living room and watched the Italian Job and Gregory's Girl on television in front of a two bar electric fire...

Why Wootton Bassett is no place for an anti-war march

UPDATE: Wednesday 6 January 2010

An obscure and extreme organisation called Islam4UK caused outrage this week by threatening to stage a march against Britain's presence in Afghanistan in Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire town that has become famous for honouring British troops killed in the conflict when they are returned home.

My niece Siân, who has lived in and around Wootton Bassett all her life, gave a moving and eloquent explanation on Nicky Campbell's Radio 5 Live phone-in yesterday why the march should not take place in the town. (Shame Campbell called her Sharon throughout!) As Siân said, many people in Wootton Bassett oppose the war. But they have chosen to honour individual men and women who have died serving their country. The tributes to the fallen are totally non-political. Like others in Bassett, Siân believes in free speech and has no quarrel with anti-war protests but thinks it's totally inappropriate for one to take in her Wiltshire town now it has become a symbol for mourning our war dead.

I can't help thinking that the whole episode is a publicity stunt by a very dubious organisation. I'd be surprised if Islam4UK has any real intention to march in Wootton Bassett. But its stunt has threatened Britain's rather good record for harmony between cultures. Our broadcasters and newspapers recorded a wave of revulsion against Choudary, with many telling him to go and live in an Islamic country if he objected to Britain so much. Like many, I have long believed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan represented a terrible mistake by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. But to portray them as the West against Islam misses the point. Would Choudary have supported Blair if he had invaded Sweden instead?

The whole episode shows once again that the modern media can be a blessing and a curse. Choudary achieved his aim thanks to blanket media coverage. Multi-cultural relations in Britain took a small knock as a result. And many in Wootton Bassett have felt uncomfortable for some time at the way their town has been treated by the media. My sister, Siân's mother, was outraged when a Channel 4 reporter ruined a silent tribute during a repatriation by talking loudly to camera. But that's the modern media: crass and insensitive. Wootton Bassett didn't ask for worldwide fame. It just did what it felt was right.

PS: it would be nice if the media could spell Wootton Bassett correctly.

My sister has asked me to post the following comment. 

"As Rob's sister, Siân's mother and long-term resident of the Wootton Bassett area, I thought I'd add my tuppence' worth.

Yesterday  I stood with Julio, my husband and Ben, my son at the latest Repatriation. It was bitterly cold, it was beginning to snow, and hundreds of people had been standing, some for hours, waiting. There was silence as the cortege arrived. There was silence - apart from the sobbing of the relatives -  as the hearses stood in front of our recent war memorial. Our war memorial is special. It's only been in existence for a few years, and it has a beautiful design of hands holding a globe.

One of the fallen was 19, younger than my son. Several of those we have stood to remember have been 19 or 18. I wondered, and despaired, when we visited the war cemetries of the Somme, how young most of them were. It seems nothing has changed. 

I passionately believe in free speech. I passionately believe in democracy and berate those who do not vote - the price paid for the vote has been high. It seems that it is still being paid, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in other parts of the world, by "our" servicemen and women, and by those they are sent to "help".

Yes, Islam4UK should be able to enjoy the right of free speech denied so many in the world - including Afghanistan. But not here, not Wootton Bassett which just wants to be able to honour the dead. March in London, where the policies and decisions are made.

And yes, we do have quiet thoughts bout the loss of ALL life in Afghanistan, and the churches of Britain pray for all those killed in conflict, not just the British, not just Christian.

I have my own views about the rights and wrongs of the current conflict/war/whatever you want to call it. But I still think that our generation, and our children's generation need to be aware of the cost, that our servicemen and women are risking their all.

So I will continue to go to Wootton Bassett on Repatriation days whenever I can, stand in whatever the weather throws at us, admire the elderly veterans who stand ramrod straight with dignity, and wipe the tears from my eyes at yet another family devastated, another life lost. I have just received the email telling me the  next one is next Monday. We will be there. "