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Google Unveils Weird New Web Reader

Works great—'if your brain is stuck in 1969'

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 15, 2009 9:25 AM CDT

(Newser) – Google unveiled an offbeat new news reader yesterday, which allows viewers to scan newspaper and magazine pages as they appear in print. Dubbed “Google Fast Flip,” it displays a set series of pages pre-cached by Google, to avoid loading times on the sites themselves. “If your brain is stuck in 1969 and you want to pretend that new-fangled computer in front of you is a microfilm reader, it’ll feel natural to use,” writes Rafe Needleman of CNET.

It might be a good solution for those who like to scan newspapers or magazines, but right now it feels forced, Needleman says. You can’t scroll down to read the whole page, only the screenshot of the top portion that Google’s showing you. Links and multimedia don’t work; clicking anywhere on the image will take you to the original web page. Yes, web pages often load too slowly, but this feels like it’s trying to revive dead-page publishing. “Hey Google," he writes, "wasn’t HTML invented for a reason?”

A screenshot from Google Fast Flip
A screenshot from Google Fast Flip
A screenshot from Google Fast Flip
A screenshot from Google Fast Flip
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
Guest
Sep 15, 2009 1:16 AM CDT
No senior citizen left behind.
DeniseVB
Sep 15, 2009 1:01 AM CDT
Google should have "bought" Newser ! I like this format better, though it does need more conservative news sources, including the crazy WND :) Afterall, Gawker is a news source now !
Mad
Sep 15, 2009 12:19 AM CDT
Kiss ass

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