Hearst to launch a wireless e-reader
The publisher plans to introduce a large-format device this year based on electronic-ink technology.
Last Updated: February 27, 2009: 12:08 PM ET
Hearst exec Kenneth Bronfin says that e-readers "will be a big part of our future."
cnnadNEW YORK (Fortune) -- Against a backdrop of plummeting ad revenue for newspapers and magazines, and rising costs for paper and delivery, Hearst Corp., is getting set to launch an electronic reader that it hopes can do for periodicals what Amazon's Kindle is doing for books.
According to industry insiders, Hearst, which publishes magazines ranging from Cosmopolitan to Esquire and newspapers including the financially imperiled San Francisco Chronicle, has developed a wireless e-reader with a large-format screen suited to the reading and advertising requirements of newspapers and magazines. The device and underlying technology, which other publishers will be allowed to adapt, is likely to debut this year.
So-called e-readers like Kindle and the Sony Reader are hand-held gadgets that use electronic "ink" displayed on a crisp, low-power screen to deliver an experience that approximates reading on paper - without the cost of paper, printing and delivery, which can account for as much as 50% of the cost of putting out a periodical.
Hearst executives declined to provide specifics about the forthcoming e-reader, but Kenneth Bronfin, who heads up the interactive media group for Hearst, told Fortune in an interview for a forthcoming magazine story that the publishing company has a deep expertise in the technology. "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," Bronfin told Fortune.
Bronfin led an investment by Hearst more than a decade ago in E Ink, a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup spun out of research at MIT, that supplies the electronic-ink technology used in the vast majority of e-readers on the market today, including Amazon's Kindle, devices from Sony and a crop of next-generation products set to launch in the next 12 to 18 months.
With print revenue in decline and online revenue unable to fill the gap, the $300 billion global publishing industry is increasingly looking to devices like e-readers to lower costs while preserving the business model that has sustained newspapers and magazines.
Insiders familiar with the Hearst device say it has been designed with the needs of publishers in mind. That includes its form, which will approximate the size of a standard sheet of paper, rather than the six-inch diagonal screen found on Kindle, for example. The larger screen better approximates the reading experience of print periodicals, as well as giving advertisers the space and attention they require.
Given the evolving state of the technology, the Hearst reader is likely to debut in black and white and later transition to high-resolution color with the option for video as those displays, now in testing phases, get commercialized. Downloading content from participating newspapers and magazines will occur wirelessly. For durability, the device is likely to have a flexible core, perhaps even foldable, rather than the brittle glass substrates used in readers on the market today.
What Hearst and its partners plan to do is sell the e-readers to publishers and to take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices. The company will, however, leave it to the publishers to develop their own branding and payment models. "That's something you will never see Amazon do," someone familiar with the Hearst project said. "They aren't going to give up control of the devices."
The question now is, will readers give up their newspapers and magazines for these new readers?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
(CNN) -- In keeping with the democratic nature of user-generated media, Facebook is inviting its 150 million users to help decide how the online gathering place is run.
Facebook is inviting its 150 million users to help decide how the social-networking site is run.
A week after a policy-change blunder sparked widespread protests, the Web's most popular social-networking site announced a new approach Thursday to give users more control over future Facebook rules and practices.
Site managers published the Facebook Principles, a set of 10 values they hope will make Facebook more transparent, along with a proposed statement of rights and responsibilities governing privacy, content ownership and other issues. Users will be able to comment and vote on the wording of the documents.
"As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve," Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said in a statement. "The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share."
Facebook became caught in a content-rights battle after revealing this month that it was granting itself permanent rights to users' photos, wall posts and other information, even after a user closed an account. Member backlash was swift and severe, as tens of thousands of angry users either canceled their accounts or created online petitions.
To quell the uprising, Facebook hastily announced last week it was reverting to its old terms of use policy on member information "while we resolve the issues that people have raised."
Don't Miss
Facebook backs down, reverses on user data policy
Facebook faces furor over content rights
Thursday's announcement seemed aimed at further reassuring users that they, not Facebook, will retain rights to their postings.
"You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, including information about you and the actions you take," reads the proposed statement of rights and responsibilities, which condenses almost 40 pages of legal jargon into fewer than six pages.
Facebook said Thursday it will continue to make independent decisions about the timing and rollout of products. But users will now help determine future changes to Facebook policies through online voting.
Over the next month, the fast-growing site will host virtual "Town Halls" to collect user comments on the proposed new principles and statement of rights and responsibilities.
As of Friday morning, more than 8,600 users had joined a Facebook group to solicit feedback regarding the proposed Facebook Principles, while more than 7,800 had joined a group that was set up to review the proposed statement of rights and responsibilities.
Facebook says that after the comment period ends March 29, it will review users' submissions, then republish its policies to incorporate feedback. All future policy changes would be subject to similar notice and comment periods.
Facebook also plans to establish a user council to participate more closely in the development of future policies and practices.
"Companies like ours need to develop new models of governance," Zuckerberg added. "Rather than simply reissue a new Terms of Use, the changes we're announcing today are designed to open up Facebook so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future." iReport.com: iReporter feels like a 'citizen of Facebook' now
Initial reaction to Facebook's more open approach appeared to be positive.
"The idea that a major company like Facebook would give its users a vote in how the service is governed is remarkable," user Julius Harper, co-founding administrator of the People Against the new Terms of Service group, said in a statement posted on Facebook. "This decision should go far in restoring people's trust, and I hope it sets a precedent for other online services to follow."
But other members had concerns about section 2.3 of the proposed statement of rights and responsibilities, which states that users will grant Facebook license "to use, copy, publicly perform or display, distribute, modify, translate, and create derivative works of ... any content you post" until a member deletes the content or closes an account.
"This is precisely why I pulled one of my photos and why I'm now considering the deletion of my account," Bertha Chambers of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon.
"If Facebook wants to make money through advertising ... that's fine with me. BUT, I'm not giving Facebook permission to use my words or my art for their profit or in ways or reasons that I might not personally support
Facebook is inviting its 150 million users to help decide how the social-networking site is run.
A week after a policy-change blunder sparked widespread protests, the Web's most popular social-networking site announced a new approach Thursday to give users more control over future Facebook rules and practices.
Site managers published the Facebook Principles, a set of 10 values they hope will make Facebook more transparent, along with a proposed statement of rights and responsibilities governing privacy, content ownership and other issues. Users will be able to comment and vote on the wording of the documents.
"As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve," Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said in a statement. "The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share."
Facebook became caught in a content-rights battle after revealing this month that it was granting itself permanent rights to users' photos, wall posts and other information, even after a user closed an account. Member backlash was swift and severe, as tens of thousands of angry users either canceled their accounts or created online petitions.
To quell the uprising, Facebook hastily announced last week it was reverting to its old terms of use policy on member information "while we resolve the issues that people have raised."
Don't Miss
Facebook backs down, reverses on user data policy
Facebook faces furor over content rights
Thursday's announcement seemed aimed at further reassuring users that they, not Facebook, will retain rights to their postings.
"You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, including information about you and the actions you take," reads the proposed statement of rights and responsibilities, which condenses almost 40 pages of legal jargon into fewer than six pages.
Facebook said Thursday it will continue to make independent decisions about the timing and rollout of products. But users will now help determine future changes to Facebook policies through online voting.
Over the next month, the fast-growing site will host virtual "Town Halls" to collect user comments on the proposed new principles and statement of rights and responsibilities.
As of Friday morning, more than 8,600 users had joined a Facebook group to solicit feedback regarding the proposed Facebook Principles, while more than 7,800 had joined a group that was set up to review the proposed statement of rights and responsibilities.
Facebook says that after the comment period ends March 29, it will review users' submissions, then republish its policies to incorporate feedback. All future policy changes would be subject to similar notice and comment periods.
Facebook also plans to establish a user council to participate more closely in the development of future policies and practices.
"Companies like ours need to develop new models of governance," Zuckerberg added. "Rather than simply reissue a new Terms of Use, the changes we're announcing today are designed to open up Facebook so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future." iReport.com: iReporter feels like a 'citizen of Facebook' now
Initial reaction to Facebook's more open approach appeared to be positive.
"The idea that a major company like Facebook would give its users a vote in how the service is governed is remarkable," user Julius Harper, co-founding administrator of the People Against the new Terms of Service group, said in a statement posted on Facebook. "This decision should go far in restoring people's trust, and I hope it sets a precedent for other online services to follow."
But other members had concerns about section 2.3 of the proposed statement of rights and responsibilities, which states that users will grant Facebook license "to use, copy, publicly perform or display, distribute, modify, translate, and create derivative works of ... any content you post" until a member deletes the content or closes an account.
"This is precisely why I pulled one of my photos and why I'm now considering the deletion of my account," Bertha Chambers of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon.
"If Facebook wants to make money through advertising ... that's fine with me. BUT, I'm not giving Facebook permission to use my words or my art for their profit or in ways or reasons that I might not personally support
