The New Straits Times，an Englishlanguage newspaper in Malaysia，went entirely tabloid，after introducing such a paper as a test alongside its main edition .A cluster of newspapers in Scandinavia are making the change this year，following similar moves by competitors.Newspapers in Switzerland，France and Bulgaria are shrinkingshrink their page sizes，too.
Jim Chisholm，a consultantconsultant and strategy adviser to the Parisbased World Association of Newspapers，estimates that ，more than 40percent of newspapers worldwide will be tabloids，up from around onethird .
The recent wave of conversionsconversion was prompted in part by the highprofile decision by The Independent，a British broadsheet whose circulation had fallen to nearly 200，000from more than 400，000in 1990，to introduce a tabloid in 2003.The move was soon followed by The Times of London.
“Everybody’s been getting very excited since the Independent’s move，”Chisholm said，“but in fact this is something that has been going on for decades.”
数字化时代报纸
在人们的意识中，更大往往意味着更好，不过在报纸业界这种概念却并不完全正确。现在，报业公司也开始了它们的瘦身计划，为了保留住日渐稀少的读者，报纸正在向着更小更方便的目标前进。
从智利到英国，从芬兰到马来西亚，报纸出版的传统尺寸正在逐渐转换为面积更小的“小报”形式。专家表示，这一趋势将传统严肃报纸和传媒小报之间的区别模糊化了，并且也加速了进行尺寸转换的报纸数量的变化。
不过，尺寸的转换究竟是一种短期的修正，还是能够吸引足够的新读者和广告商加入，以此带动报纸产业的收益，如今还不得而知。
在经济发达的国家，随着越来越多的读者转投向互联网或其他媒体资源，报纸的销量每况愈下。因此，报纸出版商们必须采取某种策略以刺激销量。研究表明，因为携带方便，小报更为适合在公园长椅或者拥挤的地铁等环境里阅读，因此也得到了更多读者的青睐。
“人们希望产品能够更加便于使用，无论是汽车还是报纸，”伦敦一家公司的负责人尼尔·赫曼表示，“如今的报纸只不过在顺应形式而已。”
《华尔街日报》表示计划将开始在欧洲和亚洲市场上发行小报版本，与此同时保持美国版本的原始尺寸不变。
马来西亚一家英文报纸——《新海峡时代》在经历了试发行之后，最终也转换为了小报版本。另外，鉴于去年竞争对手的报纸尺寸改革，斯堪的纳维亚半岛的几家报纸也将进行尺寸上的改革。与此同时，包括瑞士、法国、保加利亚在内的多个国家的报纸都正在经历尺寸上的裁减。
对此，法国巴黎世界报业协会的顾问兼策略咨询师吉姆·奇斯洛穆说，全球范围40%的报纸将进行小报化的改革。
报道说，引领此次报纸尺寸改革大潮的主要是业界的知名媒体——英国《独立报》。在1990年的时候，《独立报》的销量曾经达到40万份，而如今的销量已经下滑到20万，因此该报在2003年引入了小报版本。
奇斯洛穆表示：“自从独立报作出了改革的决定，几乎业界的每一个人都感到十分兴奋。然而实际上，报纸尺寸裁减的行为早在十几年前就已经开始了。”
Google Vs.Yahoo！
Back in the simpler，more innocent mid1990s，Internet searches were seen as a loss leader.As Piper Jaffray’s Safa Rashtchy explained in a March 2003research report，portalsportal n.入口all but dismissed search.Sure，it was a nice way to bring in users，but it was just one of the many services that surfers would use on a Web site.Better to outsource it.
Overture changed all that.By selling the rights to keywords of a Web search on a costperclick basis，the company opened a Pandora’s box of profit.The idea made sense：If you’re in the market for a tennis racketracket and type “tennis racket”on a Web search to compare products，a list of vendors accompanying your search results would probably be welcome.Those vendors would want your attention，and would compete with each other economically to get it.The more lucrativelucrative the terms，the more expensive to get top billing on a results page.
By building a better search engine，you attract a bigger audience，and thus increase the rates you can charge.Google soon joined Overture.
Rashtchy estimated that the search industry will reach nearly 7billion in revenuerevenue by 2007，growing at a compounded rate of 35%each year.Those kinds of numbers attract a lot of attention.In 2003，Yahoo！（nasdaq：YHOO—news—people ），which was outsourcing its search to Google，wanted in on the action and paid 1.63billion to buy Overture.Yahoo！dumped Google and exclusively exclusively uses Overture，officially declaring war.Sleeping giant Microsoft （nasdaq：MSFT—news—people ），meanwhile，was rumored to have made an unsuccessful stabstab at acquiring Google，and is now using its nearly infinite resources to improve it own search engine.
Google is also taking on Yahoo！and Microsoft in the Web mail business.Earlier it announced its GMail service，which will include one full gigabytegigabyte of mail storage for free.
There’s also pressure from below.Shares of Montrealbased search engine Mamma.com （nasdaq：MAMA—news—people ）skyrocketed after it was discovered that Internet billionaire Mark Cuban bought a 6.3%stake in the company.And let’s not forget Ask Jeeves （nasdaq：ASKJ—news—people ），which has seen shares go from penny stock status to about 41today.
To beat back pretenderspretender to the search throne，Google is reportedly days away from announcing plans for an initial public offering.The company，which has jealously guarded any details involving its finances，will finally have to reveal how large or small it is.Speculation about its numbers varies wildly.We estimate a market capitalization of 20billion.
Google与雅虎
在20世纪90年代中期，互联网搜索业务并不被看好。正如Piper Jaffray公司的分析师萨法·拉什奇（Safa Rashtchy）在2003年3月一份研究报告中所说，10年前门户网站几乎都对搜索业务不屑一顾。当时，很多门户网站都持有这样的看法：搜索业务的确是一项能够吸引用户的服务，但是，其仅仅是用户在网上使用的诸多服务之一，所以最好的办法就是把它外包出去。
但Overture改变了上述看法。通过点击付费关键词搜索服务，Overture打开了网络搜索企业赢得利润的潘朵拉盒子。Overture的做法是有道理的，广告商想得到用户的注意就需要花钱购买搜索结果上刊登关联广告的位置，位置越显眼广告费自然越高。
通过创建一个更好的搜索引擎，门户网站可以吸引更多的用户，从而进一步提高面向广告商收取的服务费。很快，Google就加入到了Overture的行列中来。
拉什奇估计，搜索行业的营收将在2007年前增加到将近70亿美元，每年的增幅高达35%。这些数据自然引起了很多人的关注。2003年，以往一直把搜索业务外包给Google的雅虎重新意识到搜索业务的重要性，其用16.3亿美元收购了Overture。雅虎放弃了Google，完全依赖Overture，从而正式向Google开战。
与此同时，一直在搜索业务上沉睡的巨人微软据传闻曾试图收购Google，只是没有成功而已。现在，微软正在利用其雄厚的资本来改进自己的搜索引擎。
另一方面，Google也在电子邮件服务领域向雅虎和微软发起挑战。Google宣布推出“Gmail”大容量免费电邮服务，邮箱容量高达1GB。
考虑到其他网络搜索引擎也在积极致力于自身发展，Google正在全力迎接挑战。一直以来总是对其财务状况三缄其口的Google可能最终将公开自己的真实实力。
Sony Develops Paper DVD
Electronics giant Sony and another Japanese company have developed a “paper disc disc”that can record more than two hours of highdefinition images and be destroyed with scissors for foolprooffoolproof data security，officials said.
The 25gigabite Blueray optical disc is 51percent paper and was developed jointly with Toppan Printing Co.Ltd.of Japan.
“Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily，it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc.”Toppan managing director Hideaki Kawai said in a joint statement with Sony.
