Digital print is unlike the run-of-the-Internet, HTML-based Web
sites used by many publications. The three-dimensional format has
the pizazz-plus of newsstand magazines. It allows editors and
advertisers to incorporate video and audio into pages. It also can
provide instant interaction with readers, who virtually turn pages
on an image that looks like a physical magazine, book or catalog.
``What we are trying to achieve is the combination of the
traditional way of reading with advanced digital technology,'' said
Kyu Kim, manager of enterprise solutions at E-Book Systems, which is
based in Santa Clara.
E-Book Systems is one of a handful of companies vying in what
could be called the next generation of digital publishing. The
companies are focusing mostly on magazines, books and catalogs,
though a few, such as E-Book, hope to sell their technology to
newspapers.
``They are trying to make the electronic publishing experience
more in line with the way we are used to dealing with traditional
reading, but giving you all the elements of search, the magnifying
glass, full-motion video and sound,'' said Tim Bajarin, principal
analyst with Creative Strategies.
One of the biggest players in this emerging industry is Zinio in
San Francisco, which oversees digital
publishing for 225 titles and 1.9 million subscribers around the
world. The company also delivers a few magazines to the crew of the
International
Space Station. It sends issues of Motor Trend magazine,
PC World, Jane's Defence Weekly and MIT Technology Review to NASA,
which uploads them to the astronauts.
Subscribers on Earth, though, download a free reader and then
read the publication as they would flipping through an actual
magazine. They can insert bookmarks, zoom in and even hold open a
page in the document while thumbing ahead.
``If you travel a lot, you can take all the magazines you have
with you'' on a laptop, said David Zinman, Zinio's senior vice
president of marketing. ``I make everyone on the plane jealous as
I'm flipping through pages on my computer screen.''
Analysts estimate that about $60 million in
venture money has been funneled into digital printing. Zinio, for
instance, has received funding from Intel. E-Book Systems is backed
by Kai-Wa Ng, co-founder of digital entertainment company Creative
Labs, as well as a Japanese media company. NewsStand, based in
Austin, received support from the New York Times and other
investors.
Each company has its strengths, observed Jean Bedord, a digital
publishing industry analyst with research firm Shore Communications.
For instance, she gives E-Book Systems high marks for technology,
but believes Zinio is well-positioned because it has so many
magazine clients and is proficient at processing subscriptions.
``They all are making progress,'' she said. But Bedord added,
``they are baby steps. It's an evolutionary market.''
E-Book Systems, founded in 1998 by Seng-Beng Ho, has a line of
digital photo albums that use 3-D page-flipping photo software. In
2003, the company applied the technology to digital printing. The
company currently is more focused on catalog-like publications but
wants to expand into newspaper markets.
For magazine publishers, printing their publications digitally is
simple. They send copies of their most recent issue stored on a
file, such as PDF, to the digital printers. The files are then
converted into a different format and uploaded onto the Internet.
Subscribers can access the new issue immediately, instead of waiting
several days for it to arrive in the mail.
One aspect of the technology will appeal greatly to traditional
media: the ability to closely track reader behavior. Ho says his
software can tell publishers how long people read a page or how many
click on an ad to an advertiser's Web site.
``We believe traditional books and publications will not go
away,'' Kim said. ``What we are offering is complementary.''
Analysts don't expect digital printing to dominate the Internet
anytime soon: Many readers aren't ready to trade their paper
publications for digital ones.
``Baby boomers who grew up with traditional print publications
are not going to give them up easily,'' Bajarin said. But for the
younger generation, he added, ``digital is second nature.''
It is a technological development that shouldn't be ignored,
Bajarin said.
``It's reaching out to a whole new generation,'' he said. ``To
stand still would be suicide for any traditional media player.''
Contact John Boudreau at jboudreau@mercurynews.com
or (408) 278-3496.
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