Alexander Turcic
11-11-2006, 07:00 AM
These days ten Swedish families have had the chance to subscribe to their daily newspaper "Sundsvalls Tidning" via the iRex iLiad device. While you probably couldn't care less, you may remember that there's been a previous trial in Europe involving e-paper and the iLiad. Since April 2006, around 200 Belgians have been participating in a field test (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5756) to download the Belgian financial newspaper "De Tijd" from the Internet and to read it on the iLiad. It has been very silent since the announcement, but today I found this interesting bit (http://www.thelocal.se/5452/20061109/) from Swedish online news The Local (emphasis mine):
Despite some early teething pains, all testers remained on board for the duration of the project. A similar experiment in Belgium ended in tears: technical glitches led to 61 out of a total 65 testers returning their e-readers within two weeks.
And further:
Carina Ihlström Ericsson, a leading researcher at Halmstad University, has conducted extensive interviews with all of the participants. She will be ready to present her evaluation of the project in the new year.
"From what we have heard, the e-reader is difficult to navigate and the technology still has its limitations. But all going well it should be possible to subscribe to a newspaper with the e-reader. It will maybe cost about the same as a normal subscription.
"Later, when the system becomes more developed, it will of course be possible to subscribe to several newspapers," Ihlström Eriksson told dagens Nyheter.
Despite some early teething pains, all testers remained on board for the duration of the project. A similar experiment in Belgium ended in tears: technical glitches led to 61 out of a total 65 testers returning their e-readers within two weeks.
And further:
Carina Ihlström Ericsson, a leading researcher at Halmstad University, has conducted extensive interviews with all of the participants. She will be ready to present her evaluation of the project in the new year.
"From what we have heard, the e-reader is difficult to navigate and the technology still has its limitations. But all going well it should be possible to subscribe to a newspaper with the e-reader. It will maybe cost about the same as a normal subscription.
"Later, when the system becomes more developed, it will of course be possible to subscribe to several newspapers," Ihlström Eriksson told dagens Nyheter.