And I started reading Newspaper again

Of Course I never left reading newspaper as it marks the beginning of my day's ritual. During my School days I had a habit of reading English and a Hindi Newspaper in daily routine. Later College Life started and together came the vendors of DSL Broadband Connections which flooded the information flow. Unlimited High Speed Internet was new to all the Dialup users in which we used to limit our Internet usage so as to use the Internet time judiciously. Probably it was restricting the information flood that was to come. As Broadband connections started penetrating Indian Homes, a new media setup started to gear up in India which already had matured in West. This media platform was none other than the world wide web. Previously Indian News Websites existed, but the rate at which they were being updated was not so impressive if it is being compared to today’s date.  A fundamental shift started as people started substituting their Daily Newspaper with Internet Websites. It was cheap and it had lots of data which makes you feel that you are at advantage end. I also plugged in. Before this I was in habit of reading, skimming, scanning 2 to 3 newspapers but after joining the club of online news readers, I gradually realized that now I wasn’t reading even a single complete newspaper. I was getting mired in the Internet Matrix thinking that I am reading all the news all I can handle but somewhere the traditional complete and balanced diet supplied by the daily newspaper was missing in from the online nutrition. I switched back to traditional newspapers. Meanwhile this issue also struck the Media Mughals in west and soon arrived a range of display technology which was designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper which led to creation of e-Paper and the standard newspaper hit the browser. As we use tested technologies of West, Indian Media pretty soon adapted the new technology and went for e-Papers. Majority of the e-Paper offerings are free and it was fascinating to visualize your daily newspaper on your computer screen. The best part was not that they were free but the fact they were put online hours before your newspaper boy delivers your newspaper. So, you have the privilege of reading the newspaper of the day even before the strike of first light of the day. I tried but even the first reader’s privilege didn’t diverted by fondness of real newspaper because I reading an e-Paper felt me in the servitude of constant clicking and the hectic need to scroll, to bounce between links of opening popups for individual article. 

When I shifted to Pune, I subscribed The Indian Express, TOI and ET simultaneously. I was enjoying the feel of reading physical Newspaper and was feeling privileged. The bulk of paper that was getting collected was finding innovative ideas to contribute to the household needs.  Later I shifted to a better flat but there was no Indian Express there. The newspaper vendor changed and he doesn’t seem to change his supplies due to one person. Frustrated and sad, I was scrolling through Indian Express Website and checked the new E-Paper mode. The new version was better, glossier, without popups and had smooth page switching options. It also caches each page so once you are done with turning all the pages for skimming, the pages are cached and you can switch back to any page of your choice without the use of Internet pretty fast.  Its 4:30am right now and I have already gone through today’s edition of Indian Express. Wherever you have Internet, you can go through the paper throughout the day. The Indian Express e-paper led me to investigate other newspaper. I realized TOI, ET, HT all didn’t have the interface which Indian Express accomplished. I went on to check the e-paper of International Newspapers which I found paid in majority but their interface was a little improved version of Indian Express. Finally I found a website that has evolved the online newspaper to its extremes. It is NY Times which uses the Chrome Web App and it is probably has heightened the standard and users expectations of reading their morning ritual. So, Finally I am reading my newspaper again in yet another format. I accept that nothing can substitute the sound of turning newspaper pages and the curiosity to identify celebs on Page 3. The significance of traditional ways will never go down but the newer interfaces will attract readers because of their anytime-anywhere availability and curiosity drawing interfaces.

 

Weblinks : i) http://epaper.indianexpress.com/ ii) http://www.nytimes.com/skimmer/

                 iii) http://epaper.timesofindia.com/index.asp