Any article on the transition from print media to digital is bound to have mixed responses. I myself am slightly more inclined toward print, mainly because I’m a book and comic book geek. I enjoy the crispness of the a good book or magazine or even the weekend newspaper.
Coupled with woolly socks, donuts and my cuppa jo on a cold Sunday morning on the couch, and it’s pure literary bliss.

That said, I do find printed media slightly annoying. Yes, annoying. As in, getting lost in the last Harry Potter plot and having to go back and cross reference as to who had Dumbledore’s wand last and what exactly did that letter say on the fake horcrux? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could do this without having to skim through a hundred pages and forty paper cuts?
Newspapers are even higher up on the annoyance bar. They’re clunky, the ink rubs off on my fingers and for some or other reason the comic strips are always smudged. And why do the back page models have an extra set of eyes? A badly printed paper can seriously spoil your Sunday mojo.

Now what if I could simply tap the page I was reading and go: “Dumbledore’s wand” or “Horcrux fake” or “Hermione’s nostrils flared” (… well you get the idea) and then magically have this information displayed in the left or right margin of the page you’re currently reading. What if I could flip through my newspaper without having maneuver large clumsy sheets that would have been better off in a decent part of the Amazon rainforest than on my coffee table? Howabout being able to tap an article, image or that Apple Store Christmas brochure and them mail the whole thing off to your good uncle without first getting a pair of scissors? Or zoom in on that page 3 article of the Daily Sun to err, verify the fine print on those uhm… assets? Sound like something only Harry could pull out of a pot?

Think again!

Google labs has just unveiled an innovative new tool called Fast Flip. Partnering with over three dozen top publishers, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Newsweek, Fast Flip brings a new reading experience by combining the best of print and online elements. Clicking on an article, Fast Flip lets you flip through the pages as if you were reading and flipping through a normal magazine or newspaper. When you visit the site for the first time, you’re greeted with large thumbnail images of various articles, sorted by their source, topic or popularity. True to its name, Fast Flip allows you to flip or search through content very fast until you find that one page that catches your eye. The left margin on you browser contains relevant links to similar articles and the latest content gets aggregated from various top publications.
The application is intelligent enough to note your browsing preferences, taking cues from your selections to show you more content from sources, topics or journalists that you prefer.

So how exactly do printing companies benefit from this? Well, Google’s theory is that being able to read articles faster means people will read more of them, driving more ad revenue to publishers. And since Fast Flip pages are not bogged down with multimedia content and multiple ad banners, it is altogether a shift in the right direction. There is also a mobile version available for the Android and iPhone, so you can browse on the go.

Do I think applications such as these would ever replace printed media? I’m honestly unsure. Newspapers and books don’t require batteries, they don’t shatter into pieces if you drop them and they’re fairly lightweight and portable (Plus you can squash bugs and swat flies with them). I’m big fan of augmentation and having information available at a streamlined speed has a great appeal but until a suitable, lightweight and compact digital reader come along…what? Oh wait, there’s the super awesome recently released Asus Eee Reader? Well, its got my vote - goodbye print, hello digital!

Now, if only I can get my favorite comic book writers to sign my e-reader.