It wasn't too many years ago when the thought of printing a newspaper in full colour was unheard of.
But when the change from black and white went to colour, we embraced it.
There was a time when newspaper pages were sent to the printer, run through waxing machines and hand pasted onto blue-lined paper flats. Those flats were then hand delivered to the printing press. Those days, of course, are long gone, as now everything is converted to PDFs and the finished pages are sent electronically.
There was a time when photographers took all their photos in black and white and spent hours in the dark room processing film. Well, those days, of course, are a thing of the past, as digital photography is the norm now.
And the way we gather the news has changed, as well. We still receive the odd letter or submission by fax, but for the most part, it is all email and through computers. What would we do today without all these technological advances?
We would still be putting out newspapers, but what would the experience be like for the reader? Probably pretty boring.
The staff here at Coast Reporter are excited to share with the community the latest and exciting new tool to deliver the news to you on a weekly basis.
Readers are now able to interact with their smartphones using an application called Layar. Layar is new, cutting-edge, augmented-reality technology that allows readers to get a diversity of content that they simply were not able to before.
Using the Layar app, readers with smartphones can now gain access to additional features related to a given story, including videos, additional photos, maps and background documents. As well, readers now have the ability to share the Coast Reporter story they're reading on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, or to comment from their smartphones either online or by emailing a letter directly to the editor.
When you open up the pages of today's edition and see the Layar icon, you will be able to scan the page, provided you have a smartphone and have downloaded the free Layar app. This applies to editorial content as well as advertising content. Imagine scanning an advertisement with the Layar app that takes you right to their online product store. You will be able to place your order and buy the product right from the comfort of your living room.
The possibilities are endless. The technology is amazing and we're excited to share new ideas, new content and an enhanced reader experience that is unique to our industry.
We hope you will take this journey with us and experience Layar for yourself. You won't be disappointed!
