Why e-readers may be a great platform for newspapers

For sure e-readers are great for reading books. But what will it take for the technology to succeed with newspapers and magazines as well?

I have had the chance to test several e-readers over the recent months, including the newest model from Amazon, Kindle DX.

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Here are some of my reflections:

• The e-ink technology makes it just as pleasant to read text as it is on paper. And it is much easier on the eye than a computer screen, be it a laptop PC or a mobile phone.
• Reading books on these devices is very convenient. You can store hundreds of books on a single e-reader, and the reading experience is about the same as holding the paper books in your hands.
• Battery life is another great advantage. You can go from two to three weeks withouth having to worry about the battery. Please compare that to an iPhone or a laptop!

But what about newspaper content? Can it be a success on e-readers? If so, what would it take?

My own conclusion is that e-readers may prove to be a great platform for newspaper content – but we will still need to wait a short while for the technology to improve. While it will not replace the print newspaper as such (even though some people like to believe so), it can give users a unique reading experienc that is different than using the web and approaches the biggest advantages of the print paper.

At the moment the e-reader technology is immature. Still screeens are in only black and white, and there is virtually no interactivity. Most of the e-reader devices have no online connection. (Try E-paper Central for good updates on the technology)

All this is about to change.   3G connection as well as wifi is becoming the standard of new e-readers, as it has been in Amazon’s Kindle models. The first e-readers in colors will hit the market within a year or two, and we will soon see e-readers that are rollable, extremely thin and very flexible in appearance.

I think these are some of the prerequisites for e-readers to work well for newspapers:

• There absolutely must be a 3G connection. Newspaper content needs to be updated regurlarly – and the users should not be bothered about having to do this manually through a USB cable. Updating the content must take place automatically, as it does if you use a Kindle in the US.
• The more flexible the e-readers are, the more successful they will be for newspapers. Rollable e-readers that are thin like magazines might very well be a killer app.
• Newspapers must be able to present at neatly edited package in an attractive way. Users are not primarily paying for the news (which today is free everywhere), but rather for the reading experience browsing through content that is carefully picked by skilled editors.
• Newspaper content needs to be designed much better on e-readers than what we have seen so far. Today’s newspaper product on Kindle, for example, is rather crappy.

E-readers will not replace newspapers in print. And they will not replace the web product either. I imagine it will be somewhat in between, with focus on convenience, availability and a good reading experience. It will primarily be a product for people who like to read and who appreciates being able to do so at their own convenience  and in a more comfortable way than on a computer screen.

For newspapers it offers a chance to make a digital subscription model. It certainly is more friendly to the environment than the paper product and the huge costs associated with printing and distribution are basically gone. A number of newspapers are already planning bundling experiments, in which readers are offered the e-reader device for a very low price provided that they subscribe to the e-paper version for a certain period of time.

With Kindle Amazon has proven that e-readers now have a mass market. With all the new devices and partnerships that will be launched over the next year we are in for an exciting development.

Tagged as: e-ink, E-readers, Kindle, media, newspapers