Convergence Letter 23: From Johannes Gutenberg to Steve Jobs

Our Convergence Letters are published every two months. They mainly focus on issues about Telecoms, Media and Utilities, and they address topics as diverse as sustainable development or distribution.

Gutenberg and Steve Jobs, the inventor of printing and that of Apple: is this comparison a good way to predict the future of digital tablets?

Gutenberg was the great assembler of new metallurgy techniques and types of inks and gave birth to modern printing. Six centuries later, Steve Jobs assembled the latest technological innovations and launched its digital tablet with downloading platform, and potentially accelerated the market of digital book. This market should account for 17% of the book global market within the next 3 years.

Yet this market already seems mature and publishers must now design their offerings as an effective response to new consumer behavior. Inspiration is coming from models developed for the Internet and Telecoms.