Publishers decide, paper or plastic? Camille Alarcon
rials in the use of plastic electronic paper (e-paper) to replace the printed paper may have had a shaky start in the late 1990s, but today it’s providing realistic opportunities for publishers.
The convenience of using a small, light-weight touch-screen electronic device with content updated daily, could be just the fix for an industry desperately trying to woo back readers. And it doesn’t hurt that it also allows publishers to save on printing and distribution.
OVerseas trials
In February this year, around 20 leading international publishing houses including the New York Times Company in the US and the UK’s Telegraph Group, together with a handful of technology companies, joined together in a three-year initiative to develop and trial e-paper technologies and workable business models for their respective publications.
One Belgian newspaper trialing e-paper is putting its whole publication into the device, while a UK-based company is treating the device as another platform, just like the internet, where people can actually read tailored versions of its publication.
MindShare business group head, Rochelle Cass, says while Australian publishers are closely following overseas market tests, it would be an expensive exercise in Australia which is unlikely to deliver a strong return, particularly in a market of this size.
But she adds that if it were to be a direct translation of the newspapers as they currently run, then it would more likely be useful at the “C Level”, with busy executives who are frequently travelling, are extremely time-poor, and who are not able to gain regular access to the internet.
“I can imagine them downloading this information so they can easily read it on a plane, in a taxi etc. So definitely some appeal, but very niche.
“However if the papers were to customise their content, then it could indeed open up new markets, including younger readers. In fact this would be imperative to the appeal and success in this market,” Cass says.
