There’s no two ways about it: much like a lot of print media nowadays, newspapers are in trouble. In the last few months, the once-venerable LA Times has shed many of its veteran writers either through layoffs or people quitting in disgust, and is shedding pages, too: it’s getting thinner, and several of its special supplementary sections, like the book review and opinion sections, are gone. The trouble is, fewer and fewer people — especially younger people — are bothering to pick up physical newspapers anymore. I’m one of them: I subscribed to either the LA or New York Times on and off for years, since I seem to be physically incapable of eating breakfast without reading a newspaper — but now that I’ve let all my subscriptions lapse, I find myself slurping my cereal while reading the paper on my laptop … and quite liking it.

Of course, we also live in an era that’s increasingly sensitive to the uses and potential mis-uses of natural resources, and judging from the vitriolic comments we got in response about unwanted/wasteful phone book drops, I’d say it’s fair to assume people realize the relative eco-friendliness of reading newspapers online. But there’s only one big problem: it’s not what we’re used to. Newspapers are very portable, and they’re tactile in a way that many people find pleasing (despite the ink that gets on your fingers). That’s why I think I’ve just stumbled across the future of newspapers: a lightweight, portable, flexible screen — like a newspaper version of the Kindle — from a company called Plastic Logic. Here’s a demo:

It even simulates “turning pages” — without getting your fingers inky! And like the Kindle, it can be updated wirelessly, and can hold hundreds of pages of documents (ie, several days’ worth of newspapers … or whatever). (Actually, the Kindle can hold several hundred books … but you can’t roll it up and put it in your back pocket!) Hopefully this as-yet unnamed device heralds the future, and would help not only eco-conscious newspaper readers, but suffering newspaper publishers who, in light of printing and circulation costs, are cutting back on the important stuff … news-gathering.

And if we don’t have people out there gathering the news — and I don’t mean bloggers — then, well … we’re screwed.