How many of us still get our daily copy of The Star or the NST from dedicated newspaper vendors? Not many I'm guessing. Well if this particular invention takes off in a big way, in future we could be receiving our daily dose of news from this cute little device that prints news updates on paper the size of a sales receipt.
This cool new product comes from Berg, a London based design consultancy that aims to revolutionise personalised publishing with this mini newspaper that will fit right in with the Twitter age.
How it works
The Little Printer prints news from news sources, social networks and other subscriptions on a receipt like paper no longer than 10 inches. It uses a roll of thermal receipt paper, so there is no ink to replace. The user gets to select the type of content they want printed via an app on their smartphone. The mini newspaper is then printed/delivered either once or twice a day.
It can also........
Be used as a miniature fax machine or to print out quick messages or grocery lists. The Little Printer will be available this year as a beta product first. More on this product at: http://bergcloud.com/littleprinter/
The Future of Publishing
This product by Berg could take off in a big way or be consigned to the heap of all "The Novel Innovations" that never quite took off. It all depends on whether people like the idea of having a personalised selection of updates humming out of a little device, or if they rather get it straight off the screen of their smartphones. I suppose in the long run convenience and usefulness will be the deciding factor.
Whether the Little Printer becomes a publishing staple or not, we will definitely be seeing the introduction of more products - digital gadgets or otherwise that will transform the way we receive news.
Information Overload
Whoever coined the term 'Information Age', sure wasn't kidding. There is just so much to absorb on a daily basis, and whether we like it or not, one cannot remain oblivious to all this information. In order to survive and thrive, we need to be in the know!
As such the kind of device or app that will appeal to consumers is one that will allow them to conveniently access information from different sites, present streams or updates in an easy to read format, and sort it according to the level of importance.
Comments
However, like you said, times have changed and why not to new invention that brings more convenience of reading.