The End Of Newspapers?

In green measure,newspapers consider publishing subscribed content on electronic news-readers to eliminate newsprint entirely

Newsprint editions of newspapers are suffering decreased circulation. And no wonder. You can't click on a link in a newspaper, or subscribe to rss feeds of only the kinds of news you are interested in following. So they are dull. And whats worse, after all that, and getting your fingers all smudgy too, you have to recycle the damn thing. And then there's the guilt. Who wants to imagine how many trees died for you to read this dull rag?

And that's just your problems with newspaper. The newspaper industry has problems with newspapers too. Fewer readers of papers leads to fewer advertisers footing the bills. Print and delivery costs can amount to 65 percent of newspaper expenses. They need to find a way to eliminate the printing costs and material costs of producing paper newspapers.

Silicon valley startup Plastic Logic has created a Kindle like device that will help news organizations save that money, while saving forests-full of trees. Originally spun off from a project developed at Cambridge University, Plastic Logic’s display feels about the same weight as a Kindle, but with a bigger screen. It is about a third as thick, is made from a lightweight and slightly flexible plastic, and it's wireless-ready to be used replenishably, as a news-reader.

Most electronic reading devices use E Ink’s technology to create an image. Like paper, (remember when you used to read on paper?) electronic paper technology doesn't need a backlight, remains displayed even when the power source runs down, and looks brighter, not dimmer, in strong light. It also draws little power from the device’s battery.

But since the Plastic Logic news reader is an electronic device, newspapers can determine, as they can when you read online, who is reading their news, and which articles are being read. Their advertisers could understand their audiences better and direct the kind of focused advertising the're used to on the web. And that 65 percent newspaper expense savings? News organizations could spend that on a cadre of great journalists who would have the time to find and report news.

Via Treehugger


For Matternetwork