Ateliers des Médias: An e-paper believer

Running notes from the Ateliers des Médias (The Media Workshop), a half-day gathering of media and advertising people that takes place annually in the scope of the Geneva Book Fair. (Previous sessions)

Thomas Trüb is a firm believer in e-paper. He is a top executive with Ringier, the largest Swiss newspaper publisher (disclosure: Ringier is one of my clients). He starts by mentioning a couple of the themes that are on the radar screen of Ringier for the future of information distribution. Cell phones ("which have a built-in microbilling system"): so far have not been a hotbed of publishing, in part because of the "obscene conditions set by telco operators", in part because of the publishers' own attitudes, "but things will change soon, particularly with the development of flat-fees". Multimedia: the deployment of publishing brands across media (he mentions the food magazine Betty Bossy, possibly the most successful -- in financial terms -- Swiss media brand, used for magazines, books, sites, courses, and select food sold in big chain stores; the health brand Gesundheit Sprechstunde, which has a magazine, a TV program, public databases, expert advisory, online videos, even a "get-fit" cruise; and CashDaily, a free business daily that's "still distributed on paper" but has a sophisticated website).
He talks about the "next generation" -- the digital natives. "They have grown up with the Internet, it is an illusion to believe that in 10 years they will pay for a newspaper subscription".
And then he comes to e-paper. He makes a distinction between "live-paper" (newspapers published online with the look and feel of the print newspaper) and "e-paper" (electronic paper, digital technology that mimics the appearance, and possibly the texture, of regular ink on paper). He shows a "vision" video where people carry e-paper tablets, accessing information, music, course materials, etc. "The tech has been  under development for 30 years", but it has crystallized in recent years, with EInk and Sony's eBook and Plastic Logic and others. "This tech doesn't need much energy". The Sony device is still black-and-white though. "And of course we are still waiting for a flexible electronic paper that can be bent and put in a pocket". He mentions the Belgian ePaper experiment that I have analyzed when it was launched (I will soon post about the results of that trial) and other examples. "E-paper will come. But I believe it will be an alternative mostly for daily papers, much less for magazines". What are the advantages of e-paper vs classic paper? "Entire libraries will fit in a single page; content can be updated; the font can be enlarged for better reading; can create a "personal newspaper" out of several; etc". What advantage compared to a computer screen? "Better contrast, you can read in full sunlight; light, small, flexible; will soon be cost-effective; etc. "E-paper will be the primary vehicle for "daily newspaper"-type content in the future". "But for that to happen publishers need to come together and create common standards: proprietary "tablets" and e-papers will fail because people won't carry several".

Mathieu Janin, spokesman for TDC Switzerland (the company controlling the country's second-largest telecom operator, Sunrise) gives a short speech about the impact of Web2.0 on corporate communication and "the vital need for corporations to revamp their comm around partnerships and collaboration".

Comments

[Phoenix Woman]

Wow! Is this similar to the technology being used to develop ultra-thin, ultra-flexible solar cell panels? Looks nifty.

Imagine a world where newspapers no longer needed to spend $20 million each (minimum) on building a plant just to print their products. In fact, they wouldn't even need to make the tablets or e-sheets themselves.

[BrunoG]

As I've written in a previous post
http://www.lunchoverip.com/2006/03/tablet_reloaded.html
I'm actually rather reserved about the potential of e-paper at least in the medium term. For now, it's mostly an additional electronic device (an e-reader). The ecological footprint of producing a Tablet or other e-paper reader is far from positive (which weakens the argument about "saving trees"). And while it's a very attractive proposition for publishers (shed those printing plants and push the infrastructure of delivery in the hands of the readers, paid by them) I'm not sure it's so compelling for the readers. There are many other applications of e-paper that are potentially interesting than replacing newspapers or magazines - starting with replacing billboards for example.

[Stephanie Booth]

I'm breathing again -- at the beginning of your article I thought the "e-paper" he believed in was the dreaded e-paper http://epaper.lematin.ch/ee/lematinbleu/default.php?pSetup=lematinbleu&editionStart=Le+Matin+Bleu some journals are (quite misguidedly, imho) using to "put their content online". Glad to see that this is about the "other e-paper", which is (imho again) quite exciting :-)

[BrunoG]

Yes Stephanie, he made a clear distinction between "live-paper" (the one you linked to) and e-paper (the electronic-ink thing).

[Mathieu Janin]

Dear Bruno
I send you the permalink of the complete article about my short speech about the impact of web 2.0 on Corporate Communications (in french) Best Regards from Mathieu

[Hugo E. Martin]

My take:
Our potential readers don't have any interest in buying and using such ePaper devices, for a long, long time!

Make your stuff available on devices have and/or syndicate your content to people who know better!

[BrunoG]

Thank you Mathieu for the full speech. Let me put the link in clear:
http://mathieujanin.romandie.com/post/337/66972