We're torn. Is "The Printed Blog," a compilation of user-generated Internet content issued in a newsprint format, a genius way to streamline our unruly daily blog consumption or a totally unneccessary waste of trees? It's too soon to tell what impact it will have on our media-saturated lives ("TPB" just hit the Chicago and San Francisco streets today), but the concept has us thinking.
Chicago-based software entrepreneur Joshua Karp founded "The Printed Blog" in late 2008. While his career is firmly placed in the online world, Karp has a genuine fondness for the nostalgic printed word. (The "TPB" Web site talks about spreading the paper "across the breakfast table, for an uninterrupted, pleasurably tactile experience.") The guy seems to have a way with words, as well.
The free publication, which will eventually have daily AM and PM editions, works like this: An editorial staff aggregates the best posts from a collection of partner online sources, both local and from across the globe. Readers can submit content, as well, from personal blog entries and photography to music tracks and games. "The Printed Blog" is currently available in Chicago (at the Damen Blue Line, Belmont Red Line and Southport Brown Line "L" stops), and in San Francisco (at the Embarcadero BART Station and near Market & Freemont streets).
And, of course, "The Printed Blog" has its own blog. In this day and age, who doesn't?
