The Satiric iPad App Punch Wants You To Laugh, Play, Pay

Despite a cheeky promotional claim that profitability is "not something we think about," Punch has a grand vision of becoming a lucrative tablet publishing platform. But first, a quiz: hedge fund or organic farm?David Bennahum is the CEO of Punch, a news and entertainment app that launched last week for the iPad. Pulling up Punch on your iPad brings shelves filled with various items; tapping on these loads miniature in-app apps that feature topical, interactive content. (Want to dress a digital Rick Santorum doll? You came to the right place.) Fast Company spoke with Bennahum about Punch’s antecedents--including the historical British satire publication of the same name--as well as its future; Punch has a grand vision of becoming a publishing platform. Despite the claims made around the 0:45 mark in Punch's self-satirizing promo video (below), the company very much has thought about profitability--perhaps more deeply than most iPad publishers.The tagline for Punch is “Make Fun.” How does that motto inform the core of Punch?The idea emerged between [Punch founding editor, Radar magazine founder] Maer Roshan and myself about two years ago. Both of us, I think, first of all, appreciate the commercial value of satire and comedy as a way into journalism and the news. Secondly we felt the emergence of the tablet was creating a hunger for topical original content that could only exist on a tablet and nowhere else. We had a sense even back then that it was going to be a huge... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "The Satiric iPad App Punch Wants You To Laugh, Play, Pay"

Elizabeth Gilbert visits the 19th century in 'The Signature of All Things'

'Eat, Pray, Love' author Elizabeth Gilbert plunges into historical fiction with a creative passion in the novel 'The Signature of All Things.'With a charming, flawed heroine straight out of Jane Austen, a Dickensian rags-to-riches story and thwarted romances that hark back to the Brontës,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times