Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
'Niiu' Custom Newspaper Is PKD's Homeopape
Niiu is a new German newspaper - that's printed news, not online - that will print you a unique paper each morning according to your personal preferences. Philip K. Dick fans have their own name for a custom-printed newspaper; it's a homeopape:
Unlike PKD's version, however, the Niiu will be assembled and printed at a central location.
To create your Niiu, you first choose from among a variety of print and Internet news partners of niiu.de, selecting the topics you are interested in and the sources you prefer. The resulting newspaper is printed out overnight and delivered to your mailbox first thing in the morning.
The paper is being rolled out in the German capital on Nov. 16 with a target circulation of 5,000 in the first six months... The daily paper will cost $2.70 (€1.80), but students will pay just $1.80 (€1.20), around the same price as one of Germany's mainstream newspapers.
I don't have a good illustration of Niiu, but I do have this fluffy video description; it's in German, but I'm betting you'll get the gist of it.
"Simply dial the classification of news that you wish, and in a matter of seconds I'll speedily provide you with a fresh, up-to-the-minute homeopape tailored to your individual requirements; and, let me repeat, at no cost to you!"
Niiu is the brainchild of two Germans, 27 year-old Hendrik Tiedemann and 23-year-old Wanja Oberhof, who claim it's the first "customized" newspaper in Europe. "Many people prefer to read a newspaper, they like the feel of paper," Oberhof tells TIME. "Print is the most comfortable medium as you can read a newspaper wherever you are, whether you're traveling on a train, or you're putting your feet up at home."
(Fluff advertising video for Niiu)
Science fiction fans can look forward to an even more advanced version of the Niiu - namely, personalized news delivered to a sleep instruction machine at your bedside. You see, in the no-nonsense world of Hugo Gernsback's 1911 classic Ralph 124c 41+, sleep time is news time:
The morning "newspapers" were transmitted to the sleeping subscribers by wire at about 5 a.m. The newspaper office, notified by each subscriber what kind of news is desirable, furnished only such news.
(Read more about Gernsback's personalized news)
How much further back can sf readers go with customized news? Personalized news delivery has a surprisingly long history in science fiction. In his 1889 story In the Year 2889, Jules Verne wrote about custom news collections available on phonograph records:
Instead of being printed, the Earth Chronicle is every morning spoken to subscribers, who, from interesting conversations with reporters, statesmen and scientists, learn the news of the day. Furthermore, each subscriber owns a phonograph, and to this instrument he leaves the task of gathering the news whenever he happens not to be in a mood to listen directly himself.
(Read more about Jules Verne's recorded news)
In the meantime, drop over to Niiu.de and specify your futuristic newspaper for real - but only if you live in Berlin. For now. From Time. See also this article on Dick's homeostatic newspaper.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/23/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Media ")
'Facetime Facelift' Beautifies Video Chats
Always look your best - on Facetime.
Meeting Wendy Of Wendy's
Wendy of Wendys meet Rondald of McDonald's.
Narrative Science And Phil Dick's Homeostatic Newspaper
'The structure... was once a great homeostatic newspaper, the New York Times.'
BookTrack Adds Sound To Books
I really don't think this is a very good idea. Readers?
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
