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(KR Information Design Lab
The Tablet Newspaper: A vision for the Future)

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(Copyright 1994 Knight-Ridder, Inc)
[Printing noise]

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[Off voice, female] For more than 500 years,
ink printed on paper has been the best medium

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for delivering written information.

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But as the world becomes increasingly digital,
all that is changing.

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Here, at the Knight-Ridder information design
lab in Boulder, Colorado,

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a team of journalists, designers, technologists
and researchers

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is putting together the tools that will take
today's newspaper into the electronic age.

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[Roger Fidler] We will have the interactive
graphic now.

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So, when you click on the graphical animate
on the front page, or you click on the story

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(?)

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[off voice] Roger Fidler established the lab
for Knight-Ridder in the Fall of 1992.

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Today, he serves as its director.

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[Fidler] All human communication systems are
undergoing a transformation --

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from one form to another.

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And that's all being brought about by emergent
technologies and by cultural changes.

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Now, several years ago, I coined the word
"mediamorphosis" to describe this transformation.

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Newspapers are certainly going through that
now,

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but all forms of media that we know today
will be transformed over the next 10, 15 years.

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[off voice, male] The transforming inventions
are of course the computer and digital telecommunications,

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We're finding that our capacity to be able
to process and deliver information

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through information superhighways and computer
systems,

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are increasing in efficiency and they're resulting
in reduced costs for publishing.

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I do believe that for the first time, we're
going to begin seeing an alternative to ink

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on paper.

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It may be difficult to conceptualize, the
idea of digital paper,

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but in fact, we believe that that's what's
going to happen.

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[Fidler] Ideal is (? 1:54) is a media think-tank:

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we bring people to the lab to give us more
insights into the developments of technologies

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and particularly, digital technologies and
digital communication.

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Our role is to investigate the opportunities
that may be there for newspaper companies

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over the next few years

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and to also try to develop a long-range vision
of where the newspaper industry is headed

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over the next 5, 10, 20 years.

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[Off voice, female] An important part of this
evolution is the emergence of the electronic

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tablet.

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This device is under development at consumer
electronic companies around the world.

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Tablets will be a whole new class of computers.

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They'll weigh under two pounds.

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They'll be totally portable.

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They'll have a clarity of screen display comparable
to ink on paper.

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They'll be able to blend text, video, audio
and graphics together.

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And they'll be part of our daily lives around
the turn of this century.

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We may still use computers to create information,

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but we'll use the tablet to interact with
information: reading, watching, listening.

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[Fidler] Our goal here, at the Information
Design Lab,

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is to develop the appropriate interfaces and
appropriate technologies,

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so that when we actually do produce electronic
editions of newspapers for these tablets,

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that we could hand it to you and you would
immediately know how to use the .....

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because it looks familiar to you.

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In fact, what we are doing is building a bridge
of familiarity.

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When we talk about human communication systems,
what we discover throughout history

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is that they have evolved and new forms tend
to take on many of the characteristics of

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older forms

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for some period of time.

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Over time, of course, they do evolve and take
on their own characteristics.

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I believe the same thing will happen in our
transition

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from ink on paper to digital forms of newspapers
and magazines and books.

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But in the beginning, they will retain many
of the familiar characteristics of print products

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today.

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And I think that's absolutely essential.

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We don't want to have to issue people manuals
to read their newspaper.

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You already know how to read a newspaper,
you know how to turn pages, pull out a section,

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find things that are interesting to you.

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We can enhance that with electronic technology
and make it much more useful

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and add value to it.

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But we believe we have to build a bridge of
familiarity first,

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to get us from the ink on paper product into
the digital world. (4:28)

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[off voice, female] Let's take a closer look
at the Information Design Lab's vision

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of the electronic newspaper of the future.

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On first glance, it looks just like a printed
newspaper.

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In fact, you can browse stories and turn pages
just as you would on paper.

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But if a story interests you, you can read
it more deeply.

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Suppose this story about Bosnia catches your
attention.

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Just touch the text, and the full story appears.

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What you read is no longer limited to the
physical constraints

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of the printing press and production process.

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A story is edited for content and completeness,
not for news ..... (? 5:10)

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And the tablet newspaper extends communication
beyond the written word.

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Touch the map, and it comes alive,

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using the tools of sound and animation to
tell the story.

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[Off voice, male] To understand the land divisions
proposed today,

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one must look at how the diverse cultures
of the Balkans, recently, were part of Yugoslavia,

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which formerly held a prominent position in
Central Europe.

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[Off voice, female] Access to information
concerns everyone.

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This vision of an electronic newspaper lets
its readers move beyond physical barriers.

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If you can't read small type, enlarge it until
the type size feels comfortable for you.

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Tablet newspapers can also combine video and
audio clips with written stories.

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For example, in this sports story, sound bites
and instant replays mean

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you don't have to worry about missing that
exciting play.

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[off voice, male] The whole play is gone.

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It's close (?) in the air (6:10)

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it might be .... the score

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... a great arm

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Here comes the .... here comes the.... (6:20)

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.... he never got to the .....

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[Woman] Hey, look at this!

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[Male voice 6:25]... swing the bat here, the
double play is gone(?)

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[off voice other male (6:28)] It goes in the
air, it might ... the score .... that underneath

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(6:32)

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[Off voice, female] And unlike television,
you can watch it as many time as you want,

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or slow the video down to look at just one
frame.

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[off voice, some male (6:40)] ... strikes
the baseball, and ... is gone down and that

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is how... (6:45)

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[Off voice, female] The tablet paper even
flags items of special interest to you.

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We've included a personal profile page where
you can tell the newspaper

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to find ads or stories that march your interests.

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You can see an index of the entire newspaper
with items that match your special interests

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highlighted,

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turn to a set of abstracts that match your
personal profile,

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and jump from the index or the abstract to
the full story.

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But moving to a new form doesn't mean you
should give up anything,

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including the ability to save and share pieces
of the newspaper.

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Just like the printed form, with the tablet
newspaper, you can clip and save articles,

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or send them electronically to a friend.

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You can do all this without using a manual,

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because everyone already understands how a
newspaper works.

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One of the things that helps readers navigate
through the newspaper is its familiar look

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and feel.

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We know how to find everything in our newspaper,
it's the one we read everyday.

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Retaining that look and feel is very important,
because people don't buy generic news.

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They buy a specific newspaper with a branded
identity.

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[Fidler] For most people, a newspaper is like
a friend.

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It's somebody you know, you have come to trust.

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Over the last 15 years, there have been many
attempts to develop electronic newspapers

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and many of the technologists who have been
pursuing these objectives

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assume that information is simply a commodity

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and people really don't care where that information
comes from

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as long as it matches their set of personal
interests.

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I disagree with that view.

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People recognize the newspapers they subscribe
to.

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They don't even have to see the name on the
name plate.

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If it is on a news stand, they immediately
recognize the New York Times or the Wall Street

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Journal

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or Philadelphia Inquirer.

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And it's also true for the local newspapers
in small towns.

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And there is a loyalty attached to those - those
names.

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When you buy that newspaper and you go to
the newspaper, you know how it's organized.

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It feels comfortable to you.

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[Off voice, female] Advertising is an important
of the Knight Ridder model.

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It helps underwrite the cost of the newspaper,

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making the news accessible to everyone -- plus,
people like advertising.

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It's a part of the local information package
and at times, it can be as important as the

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news itself.

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Most people want to know what's on sale this
week at the department store,

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and they want to clip the Sunday coupons.

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The tablet newspaper takes advertising to
new dimensions,

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making the ad more useful to readers who are
interested in it,

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without annoying readers who aren't at all
interested in it.

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Just as you can go deeper into a story, you
can go deeper into an ad.

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Plus, the tablet has two-way communication's
capability.

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So you can buy and sell electronically,

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make reservations,

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or request more information.

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[Ridler] Well, you have to think of ads somewhat
differently in electronic publishing.

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In a sense, the are very much like a shopping
center.

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In the print model, we find that, you know,
you have a surface

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and it's a two-dimensional world, so what
you see is what you get.

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The advertiser presents their image or their
sale

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but requires you then, after you've seen the
ad, to go do something later with it.

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[Fidler, off] In the electronic world, we're
really dealing with a tri-dimensional world.

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The advertising on the surface pages that
you browse, just like a newspaper today,

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are in a sort of sense, the store front window.

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If I'm interested in that ad and want to know
more,

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it's simply a matter of touching that ad,

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and at that point, I go through an electronic
doorway into the advertiser's space.

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And in that space might be a video clip for
15 or 20 seconds, sort of a TV commercial,

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but I'm in control.

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[Off voice, female] The tablet makes information
100% accessible.

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It goes where you go.

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If you don't want to read the paper, the tablet
can read the stories to you.

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[woman driver] Read story.

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[Speech-to-text] Geneva. Adopting the language
and locale (? 11:07) of a bygone diplomatic

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era...

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[Off voice, female] And you can get your news
anywhere.

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We envision kiosks that would download your
publications onto electronic cards

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that go inside the tablet.

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So if you're doing business in Miami but your
home town is Denver,

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you can still get your local paper delivered
every morning.

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[Fidler] This is one of the most exciting
places to be in the newspaper industry today.

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This is where, I think, we're going to play
a role in changing - changing history.

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And the people that we have here, in our laboratory
are creative, energetic,

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and very concerned about the newspaper industry
itself

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and how to build on the strength of the industry
rather simply restarting all over again.

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There are many people who believe that newspapers
are dinosaurs

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and that they are going to become the road
kill on the information super-highway in a

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not too distant future.

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We believe exactly the opposite.

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We believe that newspapers, in fact, can evolve
into a new form of media

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that blends the old familiar aspects of a
newspaper with the new technologies that are

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emerging,

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so that you have the ability to read and browse
and scan, as we do today,

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but at the same time, being able to interact
with the newspaper,

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to interact with advertisers through your
newspaper

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in ways that are not possible in print media
today.

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(Presented by Knight-Ridder, Inc.)

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(Producer Brian Doubleday)

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(Script Teresa A. Martin)

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(Camera Brad Wallace)

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(Editor Izzie Jimenez)

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(Off-line Editor Lily Gabriel)

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(Associate Producers Deborah Fellner Bill Skeet)

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(Thanks to KRT News In Motion - National Hunior College Athletic Association)

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(Clarion Harvest House, Boulder, Colorado)

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(Executive Producer Teresa A. Martin)