PaperWeb is an experiment in newspaper technology by Universal Mechanisms LLC.
Universal Mechanisms is a technology design and development company and start-up incubator. We like to take concepts, try them, and grow them. PaperWeb is one of those concepts. But it should be noted none of us is a professional from the newspaper industry. So if the prototype PaperWeb issues seem a little rough, we'll be the first to admit it.
Why do we still read paper newspapers? The main reason, they are traditional, as in they feel natural and less foreign than objects like tablets. This is because many people grew up with paper instead of pixels. Newspapers exude an armchair and fireplace or coffeeshop feel when you hold them. But papers are limited because they are slow and you can only pack so much information within the confines of a page. But this is also good, because newspapers can sort out only relevant topics.
But then, what does digital have going for it? One, there is almost unlimited information on the web that is updated every minute. Two, all kinds of news media exists online, like blogs, videos, pictures, and even articles from newspapers. But the web is very foreign and even uncomfortable for some to use and a person can often be overwhelmed by the variation of the news that exists online. It can be hard to see the forest for the trees when there are a million different topics being discussed.
But amazingly enough, the two sides of the coin each have something the other needs. The internet has information, the newspapers have the natural feel and focus. Why not try combining them? So we did. We found a way to bring the internet to the newspaper page.
PaperWeb is an demonstration of the possibility of providing internet news on paper. We are doing this by allowing for the user to enjoy the experience of a real newspaper with shortened, relevant articles which can be expanded by simply scanning a QR code with their mobile device.
The news that we put into PaperWeb is the top trending information online from the most reliable sources like the New York Times, Mashable, and even the local news sources. We take news from the online sources, summarize it, and place it in PaperWeb with the QR link to full articles. With this system a person can get the information they need on the traditional paper, but if they want more information, all they have to do is scan the page, then videos, pictures, statistics, and full articles become available.
We know that PaperWeb is not yet perfect. But our first issues are a step in a direction that few have gone before. We hope to add something to the newspaper industry that sorely needs some new ideas.
If we receive enough feedback, PaperWeb will continue to be distributed in an evolving form to the area of Boise. It you want to help us make this a permanent publication please comment or donate.
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