Hearst have announced that they will be throwing their hat into the ring against Amazon and its e-reader, Kindle, with plans to launch their own e-ink electronic reading device later this year.
The yet-to-be-named device is said to be larger than the book-sized Kindle, with hopes that it will revolutionise periodicals such as magazines and newspapers, in the same way that the Kindle has for books.
The larger format of the Hearst device has been specifically developed to appeal to periodical publishers, with the large-format screen better suited to the reading and advertising requirements of magazines and newspapers, reports cnn.com. The technology will be available for adaptation by other publishers.
"I can't tell you the details of what we are doing, but I can say we are keenly interested in this, and expect these devices will be a big part of our future," said Kenneth Bronfin, the head of Hearst’s interactive media group, speaking to Fortune magazine.
Hearst publishes the iconic magazines Cosmopolitan and Esquire – which, in a prelude to the new device, recently featured the first e-ink cover on a newsstand magazine – as well as a number of newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, both of which are in dire financial straits.
Other publishers, however, aren’t exactly champing at the bit to follow Hearst into technology development. The New York Observer canvassed the opinions of a series of major US publishers, most of whom expressed an interest in the potential application of digital e-readers, but weren’t keen to jump in as developers.
“There’s a lot of energy with creating these reader devices, but I can’t tell you there is that much consumer demand for a magazine publication reader,” said Peter Meirs, the vice president of production technologies at Time Inc, speaking to The NY Observer.
He said that while Time Inc. has no plans for creating an e-reader plenty of options, including partnerships, were being considered.
“We believe that e-reading devices that link to stores where readers can pay small fees for content will be an important development for the growth of the publishing industry and the media in general,” said Time Inc’s Dawn Bridges.
This was echoed at Conde Nast, with CEO Chuck Townsend saying the Vogue publisher had no intention to invest in technology, and that: “We believe our position is to invest in content.”
Over at Meredith, publisher of such august mastheads as Ladies' Home Journal and Family Circle, they are centring their digital efforts on social media networks, with no plans to create any digital e-readers at this point. “We already deliver digital versions of our magazines for those subscribers who want them, so there isn’t really a necessity to create a physical device,” said a Meredith spokesperson. OPINION/FEEDBACK TO THE EDITOR
|
