Although the signs are that every corner of the globe will soon be a wireless hotspot, I’m betting that a fair number of people will baulk at always carrying some kind of wireless appliance with them (some individuals will tire of perpetual accessibility, some will remain resolutely unnetworked).
For this section of humanity, I propose today’s invention: the wireless-networked, public-space printer.
This would be a coin or credit card-operated device, small and cheap enough to bolt to the wall of pretty much any public building or conveyance. Users could choose to buy a one-sheet hardcopy summary of up-to-the-second news, a local map or perhaps a children’s colouring/game sheet.
(Anyone carrying a USB compatible device, eg a camera rather than necessarily a laptop, could pay to simply plug-in and download a larger filefull of information and news images).
This would provide another avenue for selling focussed news journalism, rather than editorial pap, celeb goss and ads. Naturally the paper would be recyclable (perhaps usable as travel napkins before binning).
