Media Guru sees (and saw) e-papers coming

Thanks to Apple's big product announcement today, the world should finally get focused on the concept of downloading newspapers and magazines to read on an eco-friendly, instantly updatatable e-tablet.

Others like Amazon (with the Kindle), Hearst (with the Skiff) and Plastic Logic (with the business-purposed Que) also are pursing the media tablet notion.

And talk about a long time coming.

Since 1993, when he was the guru of the Knight Ridder Information Design Laboratory, Roger Fidler has been envisioning an electronic tablet-based newspaper.

Back then, talking with me for a "future tech" feature I wrote for Playboy magazine, Fidler envisioned that users would refill the tablet daily at an electronic kiosk (who knew there'd be 3-G/4-G mobile networks?) and perhaps roll the device up for stashing in a coat pocket or bag.

Today, Fidler is still on top of the concept as program director for digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. So I thought I'd tap his brain again about how this concept should now play out.

Q: Many seem to be banking on Apple's product to finally make electronic newspapers and magazines fly - except maybe Hearst, with its competitive Skiff. Do you think a per-article fee structure or a weekly/monthly subscription could sustain the publishing industry? Have you done any research on what, if anything, people willing to pay for content access?

Fidler: I don't believe a per-article fee structure will sustain newspapers. Amazon has demonstrated with its Kindle e-reader that there still are quite a few people who are willing to pay a "fair price" for the convenience of having a branded package of news and features delivered once a day. The fair price for a monthly subscription to an e-reader/tablet newspaper edition is probably between one-quarter and one-half of the newspaper's subscription price for home delivery of its printed editions.

However, to make these editions profitable for publishers, they will need to include paid advertising.

Q: How much color and moving eye candy should be applied to an electronic newspaper, or would that turn off traditional newspaper readers?

Fidler: People have come to expect full-color photos and graphics in newspapers and magazines. Color is essential for advertising.

I don't believe newspapers will use lots of interactive multimedia elements in their tablet/e-reader editions. There are several inhibiting factors: they are costly and time-consuming to produce; they can significantly inflate file sizes, which increases download time and the cost for wireless delivery; few stories benefit from adding these elements; and many traditional readers consider them distracting and even annoying.

Q: How much give and take with readers should be part of the mix? Do we need interactivity to lure in the Facebook/Twitter generation?

Fidler: The Apple tablet will undoubtedly provide interactive apps that will appeal to the Facebook/Twitter generation. Newspapers and magazines should be able to give readers a way to interact with stories in their tablet/e-reader editions without distracting from their reading experience.

Q: What about the form factor? Does a 10-inch-screened, one-pound tablet seem about right? How important is it that Apple's device charm people with a unique touch me/talk to me/breathe on me/face recognition interface?

Fidler: In my view, the ideal tablet/e-reader will have a 10-inch touch-screen display, will weigh about a pound and will be ultra thin (1/4-inch to 3/8-inch). Every manufacturer will try adding features that it believes will increase sales. I do like the Kindle's text-to-speech feature.

Q: I did a chat at this month's CES [Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas] with a Lenovo "smartbook" designer who said most netbooks never leave the bedroom or living room couch, so keeping size/weight down is not a critical issue. Your thoughts?

Fidler: Netbooks are essentially small notebook computers with miniature keyboards designed primarily for surfing the Web and messaging. E-readers are essentially green alternatives to paper, so they need to be ultra light and thin. The Apple tablet is likely to be a super-sized iPhone. It, too, will need to be light and thin to serve its anticipated purposes as a mobile reading, communication and entertainment device.

Q: Harking back to your forecasts of the early 1990s, did you know that the Skiff will have a flexible screen core [ostensibly to prevent breakage] made by LG, though the outer casing is hard? Maybe we will evolve to the roll-up tablet.

Fidler: Actually, I've never been an advocate for the vision of roll-up tablets or e-readers. Flexible substrates are required to make these devices thinner and lighter as well as more durable. LG uses a thin metal substrate for the Skiff e-readers; PlasticLogic uses plastic substrates for its Que e-reader.

Both use versions of the E Ink electronic paper display technology and incorporate touch screens that require a flat, semi-rigid display. All of the human-factors research I've seen has found that people prefer a flat, semi-rigid display for reading, annotating, taking notes and doodling.