Printernet

Introduction

Today I am super happy to introduce you to Printernet, my latest project. Printernet is a portmanteau of ‘print’ and ‘internet’, which provides a clue about what it is. The project was born on a drive back to Austin from Fort Worth after thinking about some of my issues getting through my digital reading list. For those unfamiliar, on the iPhone, Safari, Chrome or many other browsers, there is a native ‘reading list’ available. You can add articles, essays, or really any online content to your reading list so that you don’t forget about things you’ve stumbled upon and want to get to eventually (commonly referred to as “read later” apps). I started using these tools about two years ago and they really help me read more (a consistent New Year’s resolution for me). However, there are still problems with these tools and online reading in general that prevent me from reading as much as I’d like to.

Some of the problems

1.) An incredibly simple hurdle is that it is easy to forget to check your reading list. Even though I save countless articles and essays throughout my week, and even though I consistently remind myself that I want to read more, it is easy to forget to use my reading list when I have free time or am looking for something to read. Another related issue, is that when I do open my reading list, I have a bias to read the most recently saved items rather than unread older entries. The entries are not marked ‘read’ and ‘unread’. Furthermore, it is much easier to add new content to your reading list than it will ever be to get through items on your list, so your list keeps growing. As a result my reading list is full of abandoned articles and essays that my past self wanted me to read. I’ve been using Notion to remedy this for a few months. There I have set up two lists, one for “Want to Read” and one for “Already Read” that gets updated using tags which has helped a bit. But I still have a general bias to read an article or essay that pops up on my Twitter feed or is recommended on a podcast, instead of leveraging my reading list. This means I am giving preferential treatment to new recommendations, rather than older recommendations, even though the older things may be better or more interesting to me in any given moment. There are some attempts to solve this aspect of read later tools, like automating the emailing of items from your list to yourself, but those get ignored too — just in your inbox instead of your reading list.

2.) Reading from a screen isn’t as enjoyable as reading physical print. This may sound purely romantic, but it isn’t. Firstly, I actually do notice eye strain and headaches come on after reading longer articles or essays on my phone or computer. Things like turning off blue light and using Apple’s or Chrome’s “Reader View” have helped a lot with this, but there is a simpler issue that lingers: it remains less enjoyable reading online when I compare it to reading books or other physical print. Another factor is that I find it easier to take notes, highlight and annotate when reading physical material. Even underlining a sentence requires plug-ins and other tools online. The act of doing this kind of annotation improves my engagement with the text and therefore my retention, so I value it highly. I also notice that the reading session tends to be more enjoyable and memorable when I read physical print versus digital work. I tend to make reading an event when I have a physical copy of some book or essay, I head to a coffee shop or make myself a cup of tea and get my living room “just right” for the occasion, and typically look back on that reading session as more pleasurable. I rarely do that when reading on my computer or phone, I can’t conjure a single positive memory of a reading session based around a screen. Reading on my phone is done as a distraction or cure for passing the time when needed. The idea that reading print is still far better than reading on screens is the key idea behind Printernet.

3.) Distraction. When reading on my computer or iPhone, I am aware of the internet being one click or gesture away. Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, texts, email, Slack… notifications are a big enough distraction on their own, but even the fact that those apps exist in the same “space” as the article or essay I am reading makes my attention weaker than when I read physical print. Certain reading apps attempt to solve this by blocking notifications while you read, but they can’t stop you from exiting the app which is all too easy.

4.) Bookmarks. When I read digital writing, it is much harder to put what I am reading away and return to finish it later. There is no good way to “bookmark” where I left off and seamlessly come back to the material at a later time. My attempts at this have resulted in countless open tabs containing half-read material. This makes me more anxious when I am reading anything online. I feel a need to finish it in one sitting, because I know the chances of returning to it are close to zero. I often resort to skimming just for the feeling of having completed the material. Apparently ‘Pocket’ has a good feature for this for digital reading, but that is another app I need to make online reading do what reading physical print already does well.

5.) Most articles and essays online are visually bland. Most text online is drab, with little attention to graphic design or simple layout given. Books and magazines are visually interesting and I enjoy their graphic design and consideration for making reading easier. Sadly that is rarely seen online, with advertisements, pop-ups, poor color or font choices, and bad font sizing.

Alright… so those are some issues with reading things online. Now what?

My Solution: Printernet

Back to the portmanteau of Printernet: print the internet. Simple right? To fix all of the issues outlined above, I can simply print things I want to read and read them in the real world, on paper. I can take notes on the pages. Mark where I left off and come back when I am free. No more eye strain or headaches. More focus too, I can put my phone away and read without the option of accessing literally anything I want in less than five seconds. And lastly, by making what I want to read physical, I notice it in my physical space and therefore forget about specific articles or essays less. When you see a packet of five articles on your desk all week, you are much more conscious that those are things you want to get to.

Ok, so the big revelation is printing articles and essays. That isn’t innovative at all, printers exist already. So where does Printernet and my latest project come in? The short answer is that Printernet makes it as easy as possible to get the reading material you care about most printed.

Printernet is the idea of combining the best aspects of my online reading routine (the digital reading list keeping track of hundreds of “to read” items) with the best aspects of reading physical print (easier on the eyes and brain, easier to take notes, more attention / less distraction, visually interesting, existing in physical space means material is harder to forget, batching articles together / the stapler helps me read more). So how did I decide to execute on that goal?

Printernet is a web app I’ve built that let’s you build and manage your online reading list like a traditional “read later” app, that automatically queues up five items from your list to be printed in a design-focused print issue. You save articles and essays (or even recipes, interviews, poems, scientific papers, etc) to your reading list and whenever you are ready for a new “issue”, can hit the “Order Issue” button to lock in your five selections. Then, I mail you a beautiful one of a kind print issue with your five selections. Each issue comes with a bookmark and specific sections for notetaking, QR codes to the writer’s other work and more. And your reading list gets updated automatically by removing the five selections from your issue and moving the next five items up. The grandiose vision is that Printernet will be the first print media business where individual readers decide what to print, rather than an editorial board guessing what you might like on your behalf. That’s it! I print things you have saved to read and mail it to you in a design focused print issue.

If that sounds like something you want to try, check out the website and our Product Hunt post! I’d love to hear any feedback and hope you’ll give it a shot. Even if you don’t want to order an issue from Printernet, I highly recommend printing your own reading material and seeing how much more enjoyable it is than reading on a screen.