Fifteen years ago, information was a very scarce and precious commodity available only at a price. We had to pay for it and wait patiently, for a week, a month, or more, to receive our favourite magazines. In India, especially for trade information, the only major and reliable route available was print media. But with the arrival of high speed broadband Internet and magical developments in communication technology we suddenly find ourselves in deep waters of the information Tsunami generated by millions of websites all over the world. A considerable amount of this information is free but many people may find it difficult to search and get exactly what they want. We have to spend a lot of a time to locate the precise information that can be converted to profitable use in our respective business environments.In today’s wireless world, the information tsunami chases us, hounds us, beeps, vibrates, pops up, invades and permeates our every waking moment and we can do very little to get away from the onslaught. Increasingly easy access to the web and newer revolutionary technologies being introduced practically every day have further multiplied agony of information seekers.
At New Cloth Market magazine, we believe you should not have to deal with data deluge on the Internet. That is why every month we bring the most relevant and useful trade information at your doorstep. However, the print medium by its nature is limited in terms of interactive capabilities. We have always pushed the envelope for print — when we launched we provided cloth samples that added great benefit to our readers.
We are now experimenting with a revolutionary new way of bringing the printed page to life. Pages 8, 43, 68, 87 and 98 of this issue are interactive (look for the iNCM sign). They use technology from Dutch Augmented Reality (AR) firm Layar. You can download their free app for iPhone and Android at www.layar.com/download. When you launch the app and point your smartphone’s camera to our interactive pages, they will come to life on your phone. A related video will start playing or you will be directed to a related document or website. We are perhaps the first print publication in India to use this technology. I hope you will find iPages convenient and useful. Please give it a try and tell us how you like it. Your feedback will help us effectively use the new technology to make it more useful for you.
