I’ve been investigating electronic paper recently. It looks like a very interesting technology that will have lots of helpful applications. Imagine, for example, a piece of fabric sewn into the bag you carry to work every day with a constantly updated train schedule. <\/p>\n
I was hoping it would be a good option for Kiplinger Letter<\/i> subscribers. Our people love to read in print, and only a small percentage take advantage of the digital option — despite the fact that digital readers get the letter a few days earlier. <\/p>\n
Maybe electronic paper can bridge that gap, I thought, since electronic paper is a little more like reading on paper. I can envision a situation where we simply deliver the latest edition straight to a piece of electronic paper sitting on the subcriber’s coffee table or desk. It would have some of the haptic benefits of print,<\/a> but it could be updated digitally. <\/p>\n Alas, it’s too expensive for now. <\/p>\n In the meanwhile, it seems there should be better options for getting good, old-fashioned paper to people a lot faster. After all, Amazon can deliver things more complicated than a newsletter, and often they can deliver it on the same day. <\/p>\n Why can’t every post office — or maybe even every postal delivery truck — have a printer, and insert mail directly into the letter carrier’s bag? It should be possible to have same-day delivery of something as simple as a four-page newsletter. <\/p>\n No doubt there’d have to be some standardization, since these printers wouldn’t be able to offer many options. The publisher may have to limit himself to 8.5 x 11 white paper in #10 envelopes, for example. <\/p>\n (We print on cream-colored 11×17 paper, folded to make a 4-page letter and stuffed in a cream-colored envelope with our logo.) <\/p>\n Adopting standardized format seems like a small compromise to get same-day delivery. <\/p>\n So … why hasn’t this happened? Here are some ideas. <\/p>\n 1. To offer it nationwide, they’d have to have this equipment — and somebody to man it — at every post office, and some post offices are little places out in the boondocks. They might not get much use out there, so it might not be cost-effective. <\/p>\n Okay, but why is that a problem? If you can get same-day delivery at most<\/i> post offices — or even just some — and regular delivery in other areas, what’s wrong with that? <\/p>\n 2. Most mail isn’t as time-sensitive as a subscription publication, so there wouldn’t be a lot of demand. <\/p>\n That, I think is the main problem with the concept. How many people need same-day delivery of a printed piece of paper? For most of us, if we need something immediately we just email it. <\/p>\n So … while this would be a great thing for some very niche publications, I don’t think it has broad appeal. Which is too bad. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been investigating electronic paper recently. It looks like a very interesting technology that will have lots of helpful applications. Imagine, for example, a piece of fabric sewn into the bag you carry to work every day with a constantly updated train schedule. I was hoping it would be a good option for Kiplinger Letter …<\/p>\n