The Printed Blog

I was perusing through some websites yesterday afternoon at work when I stumbled upon the following New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/technology/start-ups/22blogpaper.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20print%20blog&st=cse

It's about a company that is going to launch the first printed blog, called just that: The Printed Blog. The idea is that the company and staff will spend their entire days reading the blog-liture posted by you and me. The best blogs; the most newsworthy; the most in-demand by web-users will be printed in an online format.

To begin the venture will be printed weekly as a part of already established news organizations. Soon, however, the business aims to expand in geographically and quantitatively eventually being printed two times daily in a variety of cities.

I think the business idea is one of the best so far for a changing media market. It combines cheap resources, good stories, vocalizes and realized demand from consumers, and print and web content. The final printed piece will look nothing like your typical newspaper. Rather, the blogs will be printed on spreadsheets that resemble what blogs look like.

Think of the possibilities this sort of change in media will allow:
1) a diverse, ever-changing news content
2) a poperie of voices, styles and tones of writing
3) the news that really matters to its users, and nothing else: for more information or more stories visit the website.
4) a dynamic, realistic news venture
5) a committment to both web news and print journalism
6) and for the capitalist: the biggest benefit is the potential revenue and profits the business will see

I think I am going to try to contact the creators and interview them to try to understand how their idea evolved and what obstacles they are facing, or expect to face.

It would be really interesting to work for this sort of company, and beat the curve to new media markets fresh out of college. Magazine work is a safe bet, and I would love to work for Backpacker this spring....but if media is actually changing I want to be one of the first people to jump on that boat and start rowing.

I would love to hear your reactions to this article if you read it. Or if you just take my word from my blog I'd also like to hear your impressions.

What do you think media will look like in the nest year? 5 years? 10 years?
Will this idea fly or plummet?
Would you subscribe?
What else would you need for something like this to be something that you are interested in?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
jean