How will a consumer subscriber make use of their customized "Newshare(sm)"? Here is a scenario.
The subscriber can sip coffee or tea at the breakfast table and read his Newshare(sm) in print form. Perhaps, however, there is a story in today's news with a compelling visual element.
Click! The subscriber requests a video clip of the event from his computer and, after waiting a minute or so, the clip is played, with sound, on his computer screen. He may have already requested the delivery during the night of the top five video news clips of the day, in which case they will be instantly available.
It's time to take a shower and the subscriber wants a five-minute summary of the major news to supplement his breakfast-table reading of in-depth material and the video clips of visual events.
Click! The subscriber requests a preloaded five-minute summary supplied by National Public Radio or another content partner. Perhaps he listens to the local news report from a small radio station in a college-age child's campus town 2,000 miles away. Or it might be an actuality (audio report) of a particular news story the subscriber finds interesting. Or it might be a lineup of half a dozen actualities of the top stories of the day.
The audio facility gives the Newshare consumer the opportunity to move about while listening to the news or information -- information which is customized rather than in a format dictated by a network.
The entire package, or pieces of it will be consumer- selectable to include or omit advertising. When configuring their personal service, the Newshare subscriber will select the commercial or non-commercial version, paying a significant access fee depending on his or her choice. The subscriber will also have the option of requiring that no individual demographic or usage information be gathered by Newshare or its affiliates and "unlist" a user address, gender or other profile information.
Billing charges by credit card or electronic-funds transfer will be adjusted by the time of service (advertising or non-commercial) requested. Affiliate content providers will be automatically provided with a pro-rata share of access fees.
Subscriptions will be available by June 1. No price has been established.