Dubai: Lean in and lean back. No, it's not an exercise routine but the categorisation of news consumption. The internet and phones are lean in, quick scans, fast consumption of information. There is immediacy to it.
Lean back, as a concept, involves more detailed and leisurely reading, with print and tablet platforms comprising it.
Together it forms the identity of the reading habits of an average reader. And Gulf News as a leading media house offers this entire quartet package.
The latest addition to Gulf News' a cappella performance has been the iPad or tablet edition in March this year. Initially, when we launched, there was a sense of discovery and trepidation.
Gulf News was in uncharted territory — we had an application that presented curated content in two daily editions called Morning Coffee and Going Home.
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As the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad explained in a report published on August 4, 2011: "Our tablet application is unique and when we decided to launch, we chose to be a real application not just a web-based news feed.
"It is not a repetition of print, not a reflection of the website. They're two complete daily editions with mainly features and news."
The initial acceptance was slow, with many readers used to web-based news feed applications — as seen on smart phones and also the path adopted by several news houses — unhappy with the new concept. But, at Gulf News, we firmly believe that qualitative delivery combined with innovation is the way forward. And that courage of conviction has paid off to a measure, as there are still ‘miles to go' — Gulf News tablet downloads have reached 30,198.
The application is free and can be downloaded from the Apple app store.
