What application do you use to create your print materials?

If you use Quark XPress or Adobe InDesign (formerly Pagemaker), your documents can be saved as ePub documents.

Up until now, when you selected “Print” from either application, you could print to paper, or print to Adobe PDF for a version that could be shared easily. The ePub format allows you to lock the document until someone pays for it. ePub means you don’t have to buy new software or get acquainted with the enormous iPad SDK – you have everything you need to start making money, today.

This is important because travel organizations need to be more flexible in how they approach their marketing. Here’s an example:

Many shopping districts have programs where a visitor buys a single passport and gets dozens of money-saving vouchers from local stores. The ePub format would in theory let the shopping district print their own passport and the iPad ecosystem would take care of document provisioning, payment processing, returns management, etc.

Using this scenario, one could “buy” a travel guide’s services using their iPad: view the free brochure, pay for the iPad version, and get a voucher delivered to the iPad at the same time a receipt is sent to the travel guide, with every transaction settled in their native language…a potential concern for European countries.

Thanks for the mention.

As we mention in the post, we are still unsure of the uses for the iPad and how the consumer will react to the device. However, there is an underlying feeling that this device, whether it is successful or not, it a glimpse into the future of our interactive / computing lives.

Keep up the great work.

- Troy