The Opposite of a Digital Edition

Seth Godin says that one of the most important ways to define yourself is by knowing what your opposite is.  Knowing this, it’s much easier to focus on where and how to improve.

As the number of digital edition providers continues to increase, that’s a great point, as it’s easy to get distracted by all of the new players at the party.

But Godin’s point is a valid one because, at the end of the day the opposite of a NXTbook is - and will likely always be - a printed magazine:

1. A printed magazine can only be shared with 1 person at a time, whereas a NXTbook can be forwarded, bookmarked and blogged about - to everyone in the world, in part or in whole.

2. A printed magazine is invisible to Google. A NXTbook isn’t.

3. A printed magazine can be read anywhere. A NXTbook requires some form of electronic product - laptop, PDA, etc.

4. A printed magazine has lousy tracking metrics. A NXTbook has hundreds.

5. Print is part of an industry where costs are increasing. A NXTbook is part of an industry where costs are decreasing. 

One of the things that makes us proud of the NXTbook is that we’re very aware of what our opposite is and what it isn’t. Knowing this helps define us and helps us to continuously refine our offering.