Tomorrow's NYT junkie, today

Big-screen e-readers may be the hope of the newspaper industry. Like Amazon's Kindle but with a larger screen - about the size of a standard sheet of paper - these devices are currently being created with the goal of displaying newspapers and magazines, writes MediaBuyerPlanner.

A number of big-screen e-readers are due to become available in the next year or so, including one from News Corp. and another from Hearst. And tomorrow (Wednesday) Amazon is expected to introduce a larger version of the Kindle meant for reading larger-format content like newspapers, reports The New York Times.

The Amazon device is being created in conjunction with The New York Times, as well as other news organizations, according to people briefed on the company’s plans. The Times wouldn’t comment on its relationship with Amazon.

In a test-case, students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland will be given the new Kindle DX with textbooks for chemistry and computer science already installed. The school will compare the experiences of those students with students using traditional textbooks, stated the Wall Street Journal. Five other universities are involved in the Kindle project, including Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State.

Were newspaper readers to embrace the use of Kindle-like devices, newspaper companies could save millions on the cost of printing and distribution. Better yet, they offer newspapers a brand new way to rethink their strategy in today’s digital world.

Amazon’s Kindle already offers users subscriptions to newspapers and magazines. The Wall Street Journal, for example, costs $9.99/month, while The New York Times is $13.99/month. With a six-inch black-and-white screen, the format is not ideal, though Amazon and participating publishers say they are pleased with the number of subscriptions sold.

ChannelWeb says The New York Times will lower its subscription rate for the new Kindle to $9.99/month.

But such devices may not be the savior print media companies are dreaming of. Technology, for one, may be holding back the adoption of the Kindle and perhaps even the larger-screen versions. So far, the devices cannot display video or even color, something Conde Nast, for example, says is particularly important. Then there’s the fact that some makers of the devices, like Amazon itself, want to control the relationship with subscribers and set their own subscription prices, which media companies balk at.

Hearst, and another device-maker, Plastic Logic, however, have said they will allow media companies to control the reader relationship, including naming their own prices.

Another potential drawback could be that Apple is likely to unveil a small tablet computer capable of accessing the web, complete with LCD screen and the ability to show video. Even without the non-glare screen that makes reading the Kindle so pleasant, consumers might be likely to choose the Apple device over a device geard solely toward reading newspapers or magazines.

But as TechCrunch points out, perhaps the biggest reason e-readers like Kindle will fail to save newspapers is a flaw of newspapers as a medium: they are way too slow in delivering news in the age of the internet.

Newspapers and magazines are fighting falling ad revenue and slipping circulation. According to Zenith Optimedia’s most recent forecast, newspaper spending will fall 12% this year, while magazine spending will drop 11%.

In February, The New York Times launched an experimental skimmable Sunday version of its paper, available entirely online. The company hoped to bring the habit of reading the Sunday Times over coffee to more 'net-oriented news readers.