Let's be clear about something: this idea that magazine publishers are hesitant to get into a relationship with Apple because the publishers won't be able to "control the consumer relationship" is essentially horse-shit.

While I'm not sure how many publishers are actually operating under that assumption (would not be surprised if it were an over done media meme), I am sure that those who are might as well pack up and go home now - they don't understand what's happening and quite possibly never will.

While it is true that the data that Apple provides about iTunes users is somewhat sparse it's a cop-out to point to that as a flaw in the system. After all, how much does Vanity Fair know about the guy who paid cash for a copy of their rag at the train station?

To the magazine publishers who do feel as if Apple somehow owes them more data I say this: grow a pair. This is the 21st century. We can do amazing things. We can start a million conversations today. We can know more about the folks reading our iPad editions than Apple does. We can get so deep into our reader's social graphs that Apple will come asking us for data.

So please stop thinking of your readers as numbers, names, addresses. These are people - talk to them. You may be surprised what there is to learn.

[As a side note: I downloaded the Vanity Fair iPad edition and it is not revolting! It's fairly well done with appropriate room for improvement - pretty much what you expect at this stage in the game.]