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a new joint operating agreement (JOA) between Hearst and the Seattle Times Co.,
which under the agreement prints and distributes both papers, Hearst is planning to field test a version of the long-promised e-paper here in Seattle. They are hoping to start their test device sometime in next two years. They are going to start the experiment with Seattle because “is a great market for trying this out.” The city has a large computer-literate population. Interesting hu?
Once you get your paper thin e-newspaper (screen), fresh news is going to deliver to your screen at your specified time. The e-paper screen uses ordinary reflected light, like regular printed paper, instead of being backlit like a laptop screen. It requires so little power that it can operate for a month or more on flashlight batteries before needing a recharge.
Now you will not get yesterday’s news today currently the way print media gives us. In other words its like a one form of computer, continuously connected with news paper broadcasting tower or something.
“If in the long run Hearst can avoid buying presses, trucks, and gas to deliver the P-I [and can instead do so] in a fashion that is convenient and meets my
wants and needs, I’d say it offers a pretty fascinating opportunity,” said Randy Beam, an associate professor of communication at the University of Washington. The e-paper technology, said Beam, who specializes in newspaper management and operations, “dramatically cuts the cost of distributing the news.”“It would certainly enhance competition between newspapers and television as distributors of real-time information about things like weather and sports scores,” he said.
However on the other hand, critics are saying something opposite. Like San Francisco-based media investor and consultant Alan Mutter, say media companies like Hearst are focusing on the wrong target. A former newspaper editor who writes the blog Newsosaur, Mutter said readers are already overloaded with electronic gadgets, and
newspapers should aim to provide better content on existing devices.
via [crosscut] and [Amazon.com blog]
keywords: Seattle, Washington, Seattle Newspapers, Media, Business Technology, e-newspaper, electronic paper, e-paper, epaper
UPDATE: The Post-Intelligencer says it is not testing the e-paper gadget at this time.
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