Fergie's Tech Blog

Real-Life Humor: Gates, N.Y. Times Tout 'Onscreen Reader'

Hmmm. I'm not sure if this is funny, sad, or just stupid. Or all of the above.

Remind me -- what's wrong with a browser again?

This is yet another shining example of how the New York Times just doesn't "get" the web.

An AP newswire article by Elizabeth M. Gillespie, via SFGate.com, reports that:

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates told a ballroom full of newspaper editors Friday he's developing "onscreen reader" software that will make reading news digitally a lot more like flipping through a paper.

It was a well-timed pitch, capping the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual meeting, much of which focused on winning back the growing number of people who no longer subscribe to newspapers.

Gates brought Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of The New York Times Co. and publisher of the company's flagship paper, on stage to spill a few details about a service Microsoft and the Times aim to unveil early next year.

posted by Fergie @ 4/28/2006 06:36:00 PM