In previous notes, I commented on Zite, a smartphone app that enables you to create a personalized e-magazine. It initially chooses news categories of interest to you based on yours news consolidator preferences and then learns, on the fly, about your favorite news topics (see: Zite as an Example of the Future of E-Magazines; Zite Receives Cease-and-Desist Letter from Big Media). I was enormously impressed with it as soon as I installed in on my iPad and made the following point in the second of these two notes:
Note to Big Media: this is the future of publishing. Tell your attorneys to relax and go out for a latte. Your next step is to buy Zite and learn from the 20-somethings who developed it how to present the news via an iPad or any of the many tablets that will be hitting the market soon. This is all about "readability" and "portability" of the news/opinion and mobile computing.
Well, apparently Big Media did notice Zite -- CNN just bought the company (see: CNN Buys Zite, Continues Magazine Push). Below is an excerpt from one of the articles announcing the sale:
CNN has bought Zite, maker of a popular news reader app for Apple’s iPad that gives readers personalized web content presented with a magazine feel....No announcement was made about the size of the deal, but Lewis initially reported that the deal would be for about $20 million to $25 million. Zite will remain an autonomous unit inside CNN, according to the announcement....Zite’s technology specializes in finding content tailored to a reader’s interest that the reader might have missed otherwise. Most Zite users use it not as a daily morning read, but as a more leisurely app for finding interesting reads that aren’t necessarily breaking news....But clearly CNN Worldwide sees deep potential in a more personalized web — and definitely in a more personalized experience on CNN-owned websites...."Zite’s technology can also be used to help CNN’s Websites and apps serve more personalized content, making our current digital services even better, [according to a CNN spokesperson].” CNN’s interest in finding the right audience for the right content isn’t just about its flagship news site. The company’s stable of publications includes its Digital Network (which includes CNN.com), NewsPulse, iReport, CNN Blogs and one full-fledged magazine, CNN Traveller. Moreover, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and Money magazines’ web presences all live on CNN.com (e.g., sportsillustrated. cnn.com). CNN also syndicates content from a wide range of publications including Wired.com, Ars Technica, Mashable, Business Insider, Fast Company, Engadget, People, Entertainment Weekly, and Rolling Stone.
We are now in the midst of what one could call a big screen/small screen revolution (see: iPad Helping to Launch a "Two-Screen Revolution"; A Possible Scenario of the Two-Screen Revolution for Physicians. The big screens that we interact with include our TVs and PCs; the small screens our tablets and smart phones. We chose either type of screen at various times of the day based on where we are, our access to our devices, and the kind of information we are seeking. CNN revolutionized news broadcasting with its around-the-clock coverage on the big screen, cable TV. The evolving news strategy that I see developing is the following: big screen or small screen news when you want it and where you want it, personalized to your needs. To me, CNN seems well positioned to pursue this strategy with its rapidly growing Digital Network and its purchase of Zite that will clearly be part of the digital mix.
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