Is iPad one step forward, two steps back? Maybe

There's an interesting commentary on the blog Made by Many about the current ferment in the industry concerning how the iPad is going to somehow "save the industry". William Owen refers to this as "the loud hum of optimistic speculation".

[Publishers] believe you can pour a magazine (and its business model) straight and unadulterated into a new medium that works in an entirely different way. The threats and opportunities magazine publishing faces are more profound than this approach addresses and the response must be equally profound, more innovative.

He illustrates with several examples of forward-looking editorial innnovation.