Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp.
Media giant Rupert Murdoch wishes to invest in the Amazon Kindle – or rather, a Kindle competitor.
A few days ago, The Boston Globe Online reported:
News Corp is investing in a reading device similar to Amazon.com‘s Kindle and Sony Corp’s Reader but with a larger screen for reading newspapers, Murdoch said.”
(If a mention of the Globe sounds familiar, look into the latest financially troubled newspaper.)
At this point in time, there is no detailed business plan, or even confirmation that this new e-reader will use the same E-Ink technology as Kindle. There was mention, however, that this Kindle competitor would boast color, unlike its current monochrome counterparts.
And with enhanced features such as an enlarged screen, this fabled e-reader certainly sounds like a tantalizing alternative to struggling print newspapers and magazines.
For those curious about who Rupert Murdoch is, Murdoch is the chairman and CEO of News Corp, a media giant that owns media outlets such as FOX News, MySpace and The Wall Street Journal, to name a few.
According to the Globe article, the newspaper e-reader model might be seen next year.
As history goes, economic downturns tend to reinvent the wheel – which in this case, is print. Since life is always healthily peppered with irony, future print journalism may no longer be printed in the sense that it is now. Should e-readers steer the market, the newspaper delivery boy will be out of business, but journalists may see their work published in a money-making format again.
Although it still stands to wonder exactly how this Kindle-esque business plan will help print journalism, since information has a habit of appearing free online. After all, it didn’t cost a dime to search for this headline and link to the Globe, of all troubled places.
Perhaps the Internet may experience some sort of media moderation in the future, where search engines such as Google and Yahoo! can’t as easily peruse headlines and pluck the ripest fruit for search results.
Murdoch himself hit this topic over the head, as reported by the above Globe article:
“The question is, should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyright… not steal, but take,” said Murdoch. “Not just them, but Yahoo.”
It’s a good question, and this blog is guilty as charged.
Photo credits go to World Economic Forum of Flickr.
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