Editor’s Note: Notes on the iPad

"Since the iPad doesn't support Flash, catalogs will need to either piggyback on a well-adopted, leading digipub tech provider or go to HTML5 [the next major revision of HTML]," Milburn wrote. "Consumers are not going to want too many different platforms."

Sam Fong, circulation manager at School Specialty, a B-to-B multichannel retailer of educational supplies and products, recommended that entrepreneurs develop iPad applications that use customer account information to produce customized versions of catalogs. "This way, the application would not just be offering mailers a cheaper way to deliver catalogs but also a different/better experience for consumers," he said.