Hearst to launch wireless e-reader, potentially revolutionize print media

Hot on the heels of Amazon's highly anticipated Kindle 2 launch comes this: news that Hearst Corporation -- which publishes iconic magazines including Cosmopolitan and Esquire along with the San Francisco Chronicle -- will be launching its own wireless e-reader. While many may be quick to label this forthcoming device as a Kindle competitor, the concept behind this is far more elaborate than simply knocking Amazon from its perch. In an effort to "preserve the business model that has sustained newspapers and magazines" while moving forward with technology, Hearst is planning to ship a larger-than-usual reader (around the size of a standard sheet of paper), giving publishers (and advertisers, by extension) about the same amount of space as they're used to when pushing out e-articles. Reports suggest that the device -- which will do the monochrome thing until a color version debuts later -- could land as early as this year, with Hearst & Friends planning to sell them to publishers and "take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices." No exaggeration here -- this may be the biggest news we've heard for print media in years, not to mention the promise of an all-new e-reader for gadget nerds to swoon over.

[Robert @ Feb 27th 2009 11:32AM]

If this device isn't priced for the masses then it's not going to be a great help to publishers.

[The_Steven @ Feb 27th 2009 11:32AM]

Rosebud!

[AMiSH PiRATE @ Feb 27th 2009 11:46AM]

Walter Randolph!!

[ThePete @ Feb 28th 2009 12:15PM]

Holy cats, they should totally call it that!

However, the Rosebud will fail regardless of name since who wants to carry around something as big as their laptop, *along with* their laptop?

[MeanSpyvie @ Feb 27th 2009 11:35AM]

I assume there will be exclusive content not available on the web, and that kinda sucks unless you buy one of these. I don't see how this is going to work with all of the other content already available without subscription.

I say fail.

[tobriant @ Feb 27th 2009 8:51PM]

Exactly. Newspapers will finally get smart and stop bleeding themselves by giving away what they spend billions to report and distribute. Thank God.

[John @ Feb 27th 2009 11:40AM]

I think this is a smart business move, if its priced right. Get technology lock in for the device, have a subscription model where its delivered to the device, and sell ads to the device. They just cut out production costs and move them to an ereader. Print newspapers are dying like crazy and a change in the business model is needed. As much as every one loves free content, its just not a viable business model while sites like huffingtonpost, drudgereport scrap content they didn't pay for and make all the money on the ads, while the producers of the content don't receive anything.

[jonac13 @ Feb 27th 2009 11:53PM]

Too bad they didn't buy up EGM when they bought 1UP, or else I could actually get sort of excited about this.

[sim @ Feb 27th 2009 11:46AM]

I can wait for the future, when I will carry my cell phone, a netbook, a kindle for books, a hearst media reader for that companies articles and a newscorp media reader for the other articles I will need, that wont be available on the web.
its gonna be great! pffft.

[Jason Martin @ Feb 27th 2009 11:46AM]

Although I like the idea, my biggest problem is that it's too expensive to be able to treat like you would a magazine, newspaper, or even paperback book. My wife likes to read in the tub, at the pool, and other places that the reading material could be damaged. If it's something as disposable/recyclable as a newspaper or paperback book, then no big loss, but you simply can't be as careless with a device like this, and that definitely deters my wife and I from getting one.

[Logan @ Feb 27th 2009 10:41PM]

have a look at http://www.golden-shellback.com/ for your wife, My self I think this is an awesome idea and welcome Hearst to the technology era and hope others follow suit.

[Jomolungma @ Feb 27th 2009 11:49AM]

you'll have to forgive me, i'm a little brain-fried these days... but what's the business model here? "with Hearst & Friends planning to sell them to publishers" - are they selling the devices to publishers? or are they selling publishers on the device, i.e. convincing them to publish to it? doesn't amazon already offer certain magazines to the kindle? if this is a device intended for the end-user to ultimately have his magazine collections on, then it better be cheap, and the subscriptions should be too. even if the thing cost $99, that's more than the cost of annual subscriptions to about three magazines, depending on the mag. so, unless they give you the mags for free, you won't start seeing savings for at least 2 year, unless you read in bulk. but $99 seems like a pipe-dream. maybe $199, but that would take a long time to be worth it in price for the reader... plus, still doesn't resolve the whole "i want to have a mag in the bathroom/on the beach/in the tub" kind of thing that hurts kindle uptake (not to mention its price).

[kai10g @ Feb 27th 2009 4:20PM]

I think "them" is referring to adspace....advertisement is gonna generate most of the revenue i guess.

[rich @ Mar 2nd 2009 12:31PM]

This is just speculation, but considering BusinessInsider reports that printing and delivering the NYT on paper costs twice as much as GIVING every subscriber a Kindle and distributing electronic copies, it wouldn't be a great stretch to imagine major publishers eating most of the cost.

[Michael @ Feb 27th 2009 11:49AM]

I think the idea is in part that "new media" is competing too much. People read the articles online, often for free, instead of subscribing. With the reader, they hope to increase subscriptions. San Francisco Chronicle, for instance, is up for sale due to low subscriptions.

They haven't kept up with changing practices and are suffering for it. They are trying to repair some of that.

[Mort85 @ Feb 27th 2009 11:53AM]

you sound like you're trying to jerk hearst off through the whole thing.....getting paid to write this article?

[JamesR @ Feb 27th 2009 12:00PM]

It's a blog not a news site. They can state their opinion...positive or negative. If their opinion was negative would you wonder if they were being paid by Amazon for negative PR?

[alo8a @ Mar 5th 2009 1:42PM]

Yes, he is getting paid by Engadget :-)

[Big Wizz @ Feb 27th 2009 11:54AM]

Three words: Common file format

Between Sony's e-reader, the Kindle, and now this, there had better be some sort of common file type otherwise it'll be dead in the water.

[Ry @ Feb 27th 2009 12:00PM]

You can count on apple to recognize this..These things will get very popular given time..

[Jomolungma @ Feb 27th 2009 12:04PM]

If it does go to a common file type, there will be some level of DRM - no money will be made if you can just pass your mags on to the next guy via USB or something.

@Ry - I think Apple will really miss an opportunity if they don't bump up the iPod Touch to about the size of a paperback, maybe slightly larger, and incorporate books, mags, and newspapers into iTunes. Publishers would have immediate access to millions of users who have shown both a willingness to participate in micro-transactions based around information, and a hunger for information. Apple can take a tiny cut, the publishers can reduce overall costs - it's a potential win-win-win. I hope it happens.

[Phoenix @ Feb 27th 2009 12:36PM]

Yeah, and they'll be reading from LCD screens, which is terrible for your eyes. Bad idea. You can't have an LCD e-reader

[Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 12:37PM]

@Big Wizz

Yes, yes a thousand times yes! In this particular medium, I think we need a format that can be viewed on all the devices. Otherwise the consumer base will never be built up.

[rcappo @ Feb 27th 2009 3:51PM]

@Phoenix

What is wrong with LCD screens? I read stuff on them all day and I have never had a problem. Well as long as I'm indoors with no glare.

[Phoenix @ Feb 28th 2009 4:00PM]

Try reading a novel for long periods of time. Like a novel. Then read from paper; the paper is easier and doesn't tire your eyes as much.

[shravan @ Feb 27th 2009 12:06PM]

This is utter stupidity. One reader for every freking magazine u buy at home. what next DC comics e-reader ? put everything on the kindle already.

[required @ Feb 27th 2009 12:38PM]

Too late, Parker Bros owns Monopoly.

[mike @ Feb 27th 2009 12:10PM]

A couple things.
1. Money can be made if the mags can be freely passed. The traditional model for print makes revenue more from adds than the sale of the media. A loss on the sale of the media is common I thought.
2. They seem to be trying to take advantage of how long it will take regular computers (laptops, tablets, etc) to be able to reach the size and battery efficiencies of these new readers, so they can put themselves back in the game with a good stake. Smart.
3. Does anybody else note that the plastic logic people also are talking about a device this size and said they would be launching next January or thereabouts.

... my big hope is that it is not locked to some format. Let me get your newspapers, magazines, and MY own documents and pdfs on it.
hell... let me check my e-mail too.

- mike

[TVGenius @ Feb 27th 2009 12:11PM]

Well, folks, here we go. Either we get to see print finally get their acts together and take this bold leap together, or watch print screw themselves by not having standards industry-wide (so you can read the NY Times, USA Today and your local paper without having three $199 e-readers) and die a horrible flaming death.

[required @ Feb 27th 2009 12:41PM]

I agree, but I have a feeling folks will initially and blindly buy into a proprietary system like they did with iTunes where their purchases only can be played on Apple products.

[Starcade @ Feb 27th 2009 12:16PM]

I just picked up a Kindle 2. I think if someone can invent a device that has NO delay when turning pages, offers better (or more) pictures, and color, plus be economical, and portable, then you have a chance to make some real headway.

My thought here is this, if you can sell a netbook for $300-$500, why not a device that does the above?

[crescentdavid @ Feb 27th 2009 12:25PM]

technology. The screen is completely different. The size is far, far smaller than the slimmest of netbooks. It'll happen. Just not for at least a few years.

[digicatz @ Feb 27th 2009 3:34PM]

About time!!! Come on man, if one of the big publishers would have just stepped up years ago.... we would all have tablets now. And it should be subsidized by the publisher, and the publisher could make money by making other materials available for a fee, on the publishing end.

[patrick @ Feb 27th 2009 2:42PM]

I can see myself using something like this. If they sell it for $99 in include free subscriptions to mags for the first year then It would be something I'd want. It's got to be extremely sexy tho...

[Jake Paul @ Feb 27th 2009 12:32PM]

photo caption:

"If you're 6 foot 5 and can palm a basketball, you'll love using the kindle2 one-handed!"

[jeff @ Feb 27th 2009 1:00PM]

Sorry. Fail. First, if you're sticking me with ads, then you better give me the device for free. Second, I will only have one device to read stuff - all stuff. I wont have a device for different sources. Check your briefcase. Laptop - that's not going away. iPod - must have some handy music player. Kindle - maybe someday - but it better play MP3's while I'm reading. Hearst-o-matic - only if its better than my laptop or Kindle (or larger iPod). Whatever this thing is it better be light, have 20+ hours of charge, be as good as paper on my eyes and be environment-proof - beach, pool, airplane, briefcase, kitchen. And did I say free? Well, that's worth repeating.

[WorldCTZen @ Feb 27th 2009 2:04PM]

The model on this seems similar to subsidized phones; Subscribe to 2 years of at least 2 publications, and get the reader cheap/free.. Once you have the reader, probably an option to subscribe to other publications for cheaper than print. With ads paying the bulk of the generation and distribution costs, the subscription price rolls mostly into the cost of the reader.

[mikechi79 @ Feb 27th 2009 2:50PM]

I like that idea. I already to subscribe to magazines for a year, I could bump up to two if I get a new e-reader along with it.

[Huffnhustle @ Feb 28th 2009 1:05PM]

I'll agree here that this reader will follow the cell phone model. Little cost to none for the device, just sign here (and deal with an early termination fee) or subscribe for a year or two or three (and deal with an early termination fee). as the device may , the cost of a dead tree edition will creep up and drive those desiring news to adopt the reader.There will develop a common file format amongst publishers, and the 'subscriber' for a variable monthly plan cost will have an option to select one or more publications. All delivered to your breakfast table or brief case when you want it.

No more running outside to look for the daily paper, late, wet, torn blown away or in the bushes. The news is ephemeral, changing moment to moment; nothing needs to be stored within and therefore cannot be shared with others save you trust them with your device.

The ad model of the news industry will continue and prosper. There is nothing to suggest the news industry will continue to share the content in a 'free manner' as it is presently available via the internet. Oh, perhaps you will still be able to find some of the content on the net, but it will be delivered a day later. No violation of the First Amendment whatsoever.

[Darrell @ Feb 27th 2009 3:58PM]

Eh, I don't know about that. A years subscription to any magazine hovers around 20 bucks a year. the e-reader would naturally cost atleast a hundred (if your hopeful, 300 more likely though) Even if you subtract the amount of money saved from printing cost, it wouldn't make the prospect of subsidizing an e-reader any more profitable. the phone company subsidizes your phone for example because your 50 dollar plan will basically make up for the cost of the phone in 3-6 months, and unless they required you to subscribe to like 20 magazines I just don't see how they'd be able to balance it.

[keithwwalker @ Feb 27th 2009 2:22PM]

Sorry, this is one business model which won't work. No one is going to buy a $400 reader to read a 16 color gray scale version of a glossy full color magazine...

[Jeremiah @ Feb 27th 2009 2:42PM]

Are they gonna have 6 month old content that will be automatically downloaded to this thing when I go to the doctors office? :)

[LloydChiro @ Feb 27th 2009 3:58PM]

Will it turn into a Playboy when I walk into the bathroom?

[Boost Retard @ Feb 27th 2009 3:37PM]

Hearst, eh? I'm surprised that they aren't just printing a bunch of sensationalist stories about how Kindle will cause minorities to freak out and kill people like they did the last time Hearst had another industry challenge its established business practices.

By this, I mean William Randolph Hearst's beatdown of the American Hemp industry when Hemp was threatening his investments in the Timber industry in the 1930's. By effectively demonizing Hemp in the press, by way of using racist fears and associating Cannabis (Hemp's stony relative) with crazy, bloodthirsty Mexicans and White disrespecting Black Jazz musicians, he helped Henry J. Anslinger (the original "Drug Czar") bring about the prohibition of Cannabis, and by association, Hemp.

An example of a sensationalist Hearst story: "By the tons it is coming into this country -- the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms.... Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him...."

[MRLN @ Feb 27th 2009 4:08PM]

...only if it costs under $100. No way will it sell otherwise.

[mike @ Feb 27th 2009 5:05PM]

Wow... tough room.
I would be willing to pay a little bit for it.
I don't need it free plus five generations more capable to consider.
This thing does add some functionality over regular books/newspapers/magazines... too.
Not only can I carry a bunch of them... but when I am done I do not have to lug them about disposing of them.
I don't have to run to the corner to buy them or find them crumpled in my mailbox.
They are coming.. .it's just a matter of time.
It is not so much a new beginning for print media as it is a first step of old print media goliaths starting to save themselves by starting down the road of convergence with digital media.

- mike

[Brian Richerson @ Feb 27th 2009 7:44PM]

Great, William Randolph used his yellow journalism to knock hemp off of the list as the number one way to make paper, opting instead to put money in his buddies pockets by using trees to make the paper. Now he's doing his buddies in, taking paper out of the picture. Here in SF we are just waiting for the day (next week) when the SF Chronicle shut's it's doors due to lack of funds. I bet William Randolph Hearst is rolling in his grave with this and Tom Amiano's pro marijuana initiative.

[nxp3 @ Feb 27th 2009 7:54PM]

I'd be willing to go for that if it's subsidized by magazine companies...maybe subscribe to something for a year or two, but no longer than 2 years...and it better support other formats I can put on there too besides DRMed docs.

[Tim O'Briant @ Feb 27th 2009 8:52PM]

This model can and will work. I'm a newspaper editor who's been waiting for and predicting this for several years now.
The greatest barrier to the Kindle business model is convincing individual consumers that the reader has value and is worth a major investment. You will have buyers -- but will they number in the millions within the first year of fewer?
By partnering with local and regional newspapers like mine and allowing us to purchase millions of the devices at a wholesale rate. In our case, I would then provide the units to my subscribers free of charge in exchange for two year commitment to their newspaper subscription -- thus eliminating the bulk of our print and delivery cost. The U.S. newspaper industry is in dire straits in many cases and is grasping for any way to cut costs and improve future viability. You could not ask for a more opportune time to provide publishers with an elegant solution.
Under the scenario I foresee Hearst or Plastic Logic or Apple gets paid for the devices up front at a negotiated rate (much like the cell phone model that allowed those devices to become world dominant in the 1990s). What's more, as a reseller of content the reader maker would have access to millions of eyeballs for other sellable content in a very short time. Local publishers who invested in the equipment up front could enjoy some small, but potentially lucrative, revenue share on such sales of other titles.
I can even foresee a scenario that allows traditional newsstand single copy sales through a network of news racks equipped with credit card readers. Users would dispense units from the news rack/charging station with a hold against their credit card which would be released when the unit was returned or converted to a full subscription to the service if it is not. Again, as the local dealer for Hearst or others, the newspaper would bear the cost and the risk of operating such a dealer network and the manufacturer would be paid up front for the devices in our inventory.
Much like the cell phone model referenced earlier, I would place my subscribers of a two-year replacement/upgrade cycle. This would ensure the product's place in the market long-term and allow upgraded models and new features to be rolled out in a consistent manner that guarantees the longevity of the business model.

I can't wait to play a role in the advancement of a key new technology I believe will change the world for the better and be the salvation of my industry.

[Bill Dunn @ Feb 27th 2009 11:19PM]

I have worked with major newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun for years and as a "IT Guy" I have to say that once I found out what they go through to print and deliver the paper each day -- and then have it thrown away that night (!) -- its time to go electronic. A newspaper subscription to a major paper costs about $200/year..I would love to pay that and get my "paper" on a dedicated electronic reader I can take to the bathroom, or beach, or whatever and doesnt need to "boot up". I have been predicting this as the next step for newspapers ever since I found out about eInk.

Lets go!