Apple’s event in San Francisco tomorrow could ultimately prove to be more than just a routine product launch or the exciting update of a familiar mobile device. Tomorrow’s event at the Yerba Buena center could be a game changer for the mobile marketing industry.
Is that an exaggeration? Possibly. Could it also be an understatement? Yes, indeed.
According to the LA Times this week, not since biblical times has the arrival of a tablet been greeted with such anticipation. But just as rabid Apple fans line up in droves to buy that which they have not yet seen with their own eyes, entire industries are scheming at this very hour to capitalize on what Apple has in the works and use the new platform to revitalize their respective struggling businesses.
Earlier this month we learned that the New York Times is angling to kick off a fee-based subscription service for mobile news content. This week, however, ahead of the tablet launch and word that the device may run iPhone applications, we’re also hearing rumblings that the New York Times may be working on a dedicated app just for the tablet, which could similarly run on the iPhone’s 3.1.2 OS.
Although the tablet’s ability to give new life to the dying newspaper industry is yet to be observed, the tablet’s potential could open up a new world of opportunity for mobile marketers. By effectively changing a major way in which people read books, peruse newspapers, and absorb myriad forms of entertainment, the tablet’s expected popularity could open the floodgates of mobile marketing opportunities the likes of which have not been seen before.
By combining core elements of a computer and a smartphone, the tablet’s big reveal will have mobile marketers watching just as closely tomorrow as any Apple fan eager to see what Cupertino has in store next for the tech world.
