Hearst plans a “Kindle” for newspapers
Hearst corporation has hatched an idea that they hope will save the great American newspaper. They plan to introduce an e-reader, similar to the Kindle, for newspapers.
With newspapers everywhere failing or closing down, a publisher somewhere needs to come up with an idea that will save the daily print news industry. The ultimate demise of the newspaper as a viable entity is being suggested by many industry pundits, with expiration dates as soon as the end of the current year. The Hearst Corporation thinks that an e-reader may be the answer.
The news was broken first by Fortune magazine, according a PC World article, although there have not been any real details so far on the device itself. The scant information available so far indicates that it would have a larger screen than the Kindle (remember, we’re talking newspapers here) in order to handle larger blocks of content. This larger content, of course, would include advertisements.
Hearst says that they wish to retain the better features of the kindle, such as low power consumption, high capacity, and a display that is very easy on the eyes. It is felt, apparently, that the kindle display (which is about the size of a standard paperback book) would be to small for use with newspaper content, despite the fact that there is a lot of newspaper content available for the Kindle already, even with its smaller screen size.
Hearst is facing the reality of having to shut down two of its big dailies, the San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, unless they can be sold. Such a sale is not seen as likely in today’s depressed economy. Newspapers across the country are in dire trouble, either declaring bankruptcy or stopping publication altogether. The latest victim was Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, which ceased publication late last week.
It seems unlikely that one newspaper chain, even one as large as Hearst, could support an e-reader alone. There would have to be many other newspapers and organizations involved in any such venture, and nothing like this has yet been proposed. It therefore seems likely that the e-reader idea as floated by Hearst is more of a last-ditch attempt to save the industry than an attempt to save a couple of Hearst papers or the Hearst chain. Moreover, it seems a slender thread on which to hang the entire American newspaper industry.
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February 28th, 2009
Two little, too late. RIP the great American newspaper.
March 1st, 2009
Bah. Let them burn what cash they have on developing a mobile device so huge nobody will carry it. Duh. Have they nit seen the tend down from laptops to netbooks? Personally, I could care less if every printed newspaper ceased to print starting tomorrow. Their time is over, they are merely landfill fodder any more.
March 1st, 2009
Its time to embrace the INTERNET and start by allowing real advertising dollars to your sites by allowing the likes of yahoo and google to manager your ad’s for you.
Looks like Craigslist has really destroyed the newspaper industry.
They should just purchase craigslist for 25 billion dollars… :))
March 1st, 2009
If they get it done right It would be an excellent idea. The real killer would be the ability to fold it :)
I actually find the screen size lacking on the Kindle. On most articles i tend to skim the article, no point in wasting time reading useless bits….so when reading on the kindle I have to squint ALOT