More important, I did not refer to content as pre-packaged, but rather as re-packaged — which it is, since original content is offered by bloggers and the like as a way of extending their online visibility. Subjectively, I’ll be surprised to learn of any whose content gets leveraged through Printcasting users in a way that actually earns them enough to buy that grande mocha latte you mention.

I’ll accept the slap on the wrist about the ad rates. I didn’t really misunderstand that publishers can set their own rates higher — but I did exclude that point and perhaps shouldn’t have.
Why’d I do it? Because my experience at many levels (including my current experience working extensively with a not-for-profit hyperlocal news effort with print and online components — The Heights Observer – tells me advertisers are going to be the weak link of your model. At a national level, it’s not where they want to be; at a local and hyper-local level, even $10 is too much for self-service. I’m more in line with Kurt Anderson’s thesis — free is completely different from almost free.

In the end Dan, we’re both playing at the same thing: a hyper-local media model that works. Printcasting could almost compete with the content management system we use if it added some editing and collaboration functions. But the real trick is covering the cost of printing. If the goal is to cover this cost with revenue from sponsors or advertisers, then I’m certain it will fail unless the publisher has someone who is willing to take the risk of knocking on doors and doing some old-fashioned belly-to-belly selling.

I’m the founder of Printcasting. Interesting opinion piece, and thanks for writing about us. You did however get a few things wrong. Namely:

- The content is not pre-packaged and readily available *in print*, as bloggers and news providers must explicitly register their content feeds (or blog on the site). We do this because printing peoples’ content without their permission would be illegal according to international copyright law. In that sense, the more content providers opt in to Printcasting (which we think they will because they will share in ad revenue), the more valuable the network becomes for everyone.

- Printcasting ad rates are not fixed. Only the minimum is fixed (currently $10). Every publisher can mark up the ad rate when they create the Printcast, or by editing settings later. This is precisely so that they can recoup some of their printing costs as they provide more value through more printing and distribution.

- And finally, our Knight Foundation grant is for $837,000, not $800,000.

The rest of your post is really a strong opinion, which you’re entitled to. You do have some good points about challenges (we are funded by the Knight News Challenge afterall), and we’ll be working over the next year to tackle all of those and more that come up as we carry out this grand experiment. Thanks to the Knight Foundation we have about a year more to fine tune the features based on how people use Printcasting and what they ask for, and for that we’re grateful.

And good idea about the sporting leagues, too. We’re hoping to try that out with kids’ soccer teams this Fall, in both Bakersfield and the Denver area.

Feel free to come over to Printcasting.com, register your feed, make a magazine with it, print and distribute it at your local coffee shop. Then tell your local businesses that they can place an ad in 5 minutes for less than the cost of a grande mocha latte. That’s really what Printcasting is intended for. It’s extremely hyper-local and very, very grass-roots. If your blog is national or topical in nature with no local componets, Printcasting may not be the best fit for your needs. But we’re always surprised to find out how people are using it. That’s what makes it a fun project.

- Dan Pacheco, Founder of Printcasting.com