The newspapers of the future - cheap digital screens that can be rolled up
and stuffed into a back pocket - have been just around the corner for the last
three decades.
But as early as this year, the future may finally arrive. Some of the world's
top newspapers publishers are planning to introduce a form of electronic
newspaper that will allow users to download entire editions from the Web on to
reflective digital screens said to be easier on the eyes than light-emitting
laptop or cellphone displays.
Flexible versions of these readers nay be available as early as 2007.
The handheld readers couldn't come a moment too soon for the newspaper
industry, which has struggled to maintain its readership and advertising from
online rivals.
Publishers Hearst Corp. in the U.S., Pearson Plc.'s Les Echos in Paris and
Belgian financial paper De Tijd are planning a large-scale trials of the readers
this year.
Earlier attempts by book publishers to sell digital readers failed due to
high prices and a lack of downloadable books.
But a new generation of readers from Sony Corp. and iRex, a Philips
Electronics spin-off, have impressed publishers with their sharp resolution and
energy efficiency, galvanizing support for the idea again.
"This could be a real substitution for printed paper," Jochen Dieckow, head
of the news media and research division of Ifra, a global newspaper association
based in Germany, said.
It's easy to see why publishers are keen. Digital newspapers, so called
e-newspapers, take advantage of two prevailing media trends -- the growth of
online advertising and widespread use of portable devices like the iPod music
player.
Nearly all papers run Web sites, but few readers relish pulling out laptops
in transit or risk dropping one in the bathroom.
E-newspapers would cut production and delivery costs that account for some 75
percent of newspaper expenses.
Circulation in the $55 billion U.S. newspaper industry has slid steadily for
nearly two decades as papers compete with Internet news for attention and
advertising dollars.
Some publishers now see new devices as a way to help them snatch a bigger
slice of online advertising and protect their franchise in reading away from
home.
Ad spending on newspaper Web sites grew 32 percent in 2005 but only accounted
for 4 percent of total ad spending in newspapers, according to the Newspaper
Association of America.
Still, little is known about demand for an e-paper. "The number of consumers
who are interested in reading on the go as opposed to listening to music on the
go is probably smaller in the U.S. today," NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin said.
