Future publishing director talks about new devices at Digital Innovators’ Summit
Nial Ferguson, group publishing director, Technology Division, Future, UK, gave attendees at the Digital Innovators’ Summit today an idea about what to expect for the future of devices.
According to Ferguson, publishers should look to their audiences to first see what technology they are using, and how they are using it. “Consumers are always on, digital first, sharing everything, multi-screen and impatient”, he said. Ferguson spoke about new tablets including the Asus Padfone, Sony Xperia Z and iPad mini, but said that the real excitement now is the data behind the hardware. He gave examples of big brands using XML and APIs to tie apps directly into their consumers’ behaviour. “Only now are publishers realising how important XML can be.”
“Tablets have made us look the wrong way” said Ferguson, “and the most disruptive devices we’ve ever seen are smartphones.” The new challenge for market leadership from Apple will be interesting, he said, with “Android making iOS a little bit tired at the moment.”
“Mobile is changing everything in a number of ways”, said Ferguson, but the main thing is patience. Users want everything now and ready. Any delay results in your publication being mentally blacklisted.”
