the newspaper business

This is definitely cool. A newsstand that displays digital front pages.

Sure, I could get the news on my desktop computer or iPhone (yeah, I wish!), but as a newspaper editor, I’ve got a soft spot for tradition.

Front pages shown here feature some of Birmingham’s big stories during the past year: the rise of “American Idol” Taylor Hicks, the firing of Alabama Crimson Tide Coach Mike Shula and the hiring of Nick Saban. (The Birmingham News won the Pulitzer soon after.)

This editor is really thinking and certainly not afraid to tackle a difficult design and technology project.  This link will take you to a step by step way to make your own digital newsstand.  There should be one of these in every newspaper’s lobby.

Here’s a taste of the tech know-how to get this done.

With a little AppleScript work, I trained my Mac to get the papers.

The Mac Mini connects to the Internet and to my iTunes library through my home wireless network. Each morning the computer launches a script triggered by an iCalGraphicConverter and launches a slideshow with PhotoPresenter, a nifty little $8 shareware program with lots of snazzy transitions. The remote can pause or cycle through the pages.

I think there’s a market for you Scott, do the major vending machines know about your design?  Very nicely done. Congratulations, and forget about that headline - just trying to draw people in you know!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Circulation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.