Can HP Photosmart Premium Save Newspapers?

We have heard a lot in the past about how technologies such as the Internet have helped make the newspaper industry’s business models obsolete. After all, who needs a newspaper when you can get the latest news on the Internet or better yet on a Kindle. HP has watched these companies struggle and has decided to lend a hand with HP Photosmart Premium Internet Printer. This is a cool printer that comes with a bunch of applications that let you print tickets, news, and all kinds of things easily from the web. It also offers its own API and lets you write enhancements for it. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get up every morning and have your RSS feed content printed for you on your desk? That’s exactly what you can do with HP Photosmart Premium.

The device also can connect to your iPhone and let you print content easily from your gadget. That’s another reason for news publishers to be optimistic about this gadget. HP Photosmart Premium is certainly a capable device that is trying to offer an alternative to consumers who are not very comfortable with Kindle yet. But will it succeed? More importantly, will it slow down Amazon Kindle’s momentum?

For a company that prides itself in being innovative and forward looking, this printer seems to be a backward move. While it’s great to have the ability to easily print things from the Internet without going through a hassle, the future lies with Kindle and e-paper devices. HP is smart to use iPhone to sell more of these, but unless HP Photosmart Premium can make papers disappear, it’s not going to be anything but a short-term gadget. There is probably a greater need for this device in the business segment, but the consumer market can and will adopt digital paper technologies much faster. HP Photosmart Premium seems decent enough to gain some market-share, but it won’t be a “game changer” as some have claimed.