Prior to the announcement that yes, Virginia, there really is an iPad, everyone was clamoring to be on a device that existed only in our minds. Now that the device has been unveiled, the reality is beginning to sink in as Apple tries to negotiate content deals with leading newspapers and magazines.

MacRumors has a report on the hurdles Apple is expected to overcome in their quest to get newspapers and magazines on the new iPad when it hits stores in late March. The initial enthusiasm and excitement has transitioned to cautious optimism as publishers try to understand this new medium, according to the Financial Times.

At the top of list of publishers’ concerns is how Apple shares only limited customer information with its content partners. Newspapers and magazines have a long history of mining valuable data on their subscribers which are used in future marketing efforts as well as to pinpoint what readers would like to see in such publications. Apple’s resistance to share all of this information has the publishers on the defense.

“Apple’s practice of sharing with its partners little consumer data beyond sales volume is a problem,” the report reads. “’Is it a dealbreaker? It's pretty damn close,’ said one senior media executive of a US metropolitan daily newspaper.

“Publishers have spent decades collecting information about subscribers that influence marketing plans and, in some cases, the content of the publication itself,” the report continues. “Apple’s policy would separate them from their most valuable asset, publishing executives said. ‘We must keep the relationship with our readers,’ says Sara Öhrvall, senior vice-president of research at Swedish publisher Bonnier . ‘That’s the only way to make a good magazine.’”

Also complicating the deals is Apple’s revenue sharing arrangement, which nets Cupertino 30% of the sale price for handling distribution -- same as the current App Store deal, and it’s also becoming standard for most book publishers. But the periodical publishers are balking at giving up what they feel is too much of a percentage on an ongoing basis. They’re also arguing that recurring subscription charges for continuing content should be treated differently than pay-once content.

Despite the disagreements, the report notes that the talks are “considered friendly and continuing,” suggesting that both sides have some room to maneuver.