E-paper idea gains steam

With growth of Internet usage, companies race to develop the technology

Last of three parts Envision a world where commuters board a train with a film-like newspaper that updates itself as fast as the news is reported with a device more portable than a laptop computer.

It sounds like science fiction, but e-paper technology already is undergoing testing as companies look to make print media more convenient.

“There’s more than one way to tell a story,” said Joel Sappell, executive editor of latimes.com. “You can grab readers who you may not have been able to grab onto before through newspapers.”

Technology and the emergence of the Internet was said to be the beginning of the end for the aging dinosaur of the newspaper industry. But technology may turn out to be the key to survival.

Len Apcar, The New York Times online editor, has raised nytimes.com from a simple reflection of the print edition to a Web product that offers what newsprint cannot.

The decade-old nytimes.com is filled with slideshows, reader forums and an expanded blog feature, allowing readers to add their opinions and information about current events.

“The traditional newspaper reader of The New York Times will read for about a half hour,” Apcar said. “The online readers come in for quick bits of info or to find out what other people are saying.”

Robert Hernandez, news producer of The Seattle Times homepage, says he strives to make reporters and photographers incorporate the Web into their work.

“Traditionally, it’s a 15-inch story with a photo,” Hernandez said. “Now, it starts with a sentence and maybe add more details to come. Then there will be some sentences and some photos.”

Newspapers are left trying to strike a balance between providing what comes in the next day’s paper or scooping themselves on the Internet.

“The deadline is not at 10 o’clock. It’s constant,” Hernandez said.

There is a difference in the type of readers of Internet news sites and those who continue to read print editions, industry leaders say.

The average Web reader is usually younger than the average newspaper reader, more educated and is less likely to pick up a copy of the paper.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, about 73% of adults in the United States use the Internet, and about 50 million Americans overall get their daily news on the Internet.

Several companies are racing to develop a viable alternative to computers, a portable e-paper.

Within the last year, researchers at Fujitsu in Japan developed what was deemed the world’s first color, bendable, semi-permanent film-like material that required little if any electricity.

The company’s e-paper uses about one-hundredth the power of LCDs and plasma display panels when the image is changed. It’s as slim as 0.8 mm.

However, technology will not make newspaper journalists obsolete anytime soon, but it does change what’s expected of them.

As long as consumers are concerned with what is going on in their own backyards, he news media will be necessary in all forms.

“Younger dults are reading the paper who would not otherwise read it,” Hernandez said. “What has to happen now is to learn how to serve the reader and still pay the bills.”

Contact Serena Maria Daniels at serenamariadaniels@yahoo. com.