weeks (among others)... and allow you to access your e-mail and browse the web.

All of us at Automotive Traveler are magazine geeks. To our way of thinking, nothing can replace the appeal (and portability) of a well-produced magazine. But in terms of a reading experience, the iPad comes close.

And for a generation that has grown up getting its information and content via the Internet, it's had a profound effect on newspapers and magazines. Content delivery today must be digital, not ink on paper with its costly, inefficient distribution issues.

This summer, we took the first tentative steps to meet this changing paradigm head on by developing our own browser-independent and iPad-friendly viewer. In early September, we switched our presentation of content from the old blog format to one in which each content item receives a magazine-style presentation.

The presentation works great on any laptop, desktop PC, the flat-panel display in your home theater, and, to a degree, your iPhone, Blackberry, Android, or other mobile device.

Magazine people tend to wear many hats. In addition to my duties here at Automotive Traveler, I was also the founding editor of the print magazine Chevy Enthusiast. When Amos Publishing decided to discontinue Chevy Enthusiast and six other titles, the news drove home to me the need to focus on the changing landscape of publishing.

Together with Executive Editor Robyn Larson McCarthy (who gave me one of my first freelance gigs back in 1998) and our behind-the-scenes technical wizard Jay Sherman, we turned our efforts toward the future and Automotive Traveler.

Our plan is simple. During the first week of each month, we will assemble many of the features published at AutomotiveTraveler.com during the preceding month. We'll update them as necessary, add new, magazine-only content, and produce an interactive table of contents and cover.

Then we'll "publish" a new issue for those who want a traditional magazine-style reading experience--without the ink on paper. (We're working on a POD version for those of you who insist on the old-school approach.)

We think we're positioning Automotive Traveler for the future--merging the magazine experience with the interactivity of a website.

Despite sales projections of 28 million over the next 12 months, the iPad's potential audience is limited even at $400. The real growth (and opportunity) will come from competing non-Apple tablets, possibly running a version of Google's powerful Android operating system.

Already on the streets of Shanghai, you can buy Android-powered iPad clones, and some of them are already faster and more feature-packed than the current iPad--all for less than the magic $200 price point.

My prediction? Twelve months from now, we'll see tablets from such well-known manufacturers as HP, Dell, and Sony cracking the $200 barrier just in time for the Christmas 2011 selling season. They will replace both notebooks and entry-level laptops for many consumers.

Meanwhile, we'll see more attrition in the traditional print world as publishers continue their struggle to reinvent themselves for the new reality of what I like to call "content distribution." Fewer print magazines will be published, with less overlap--and online-only publications such as Automotive Traveler will be gaining traction in the marketplace.

It wouldn't surprise me if the magazine section of your local book superstore (those that survive the coming shakeout, that is), supermarket, Walmart, or Target is half its current size... in just a year's time.

The coming shifts will be seismic. Don't believe me? Take a look at what's happened to your neighborhood Blockbuster.

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