A news digest

One of the neat things about going to the dentist (at least our dentist) is that he has a computer screen at each station to divert your attention from his job.  On the screen every time I go there is the landing page for yahoo.ca.  It’s not necessarily everyone’s landing page but it’s a good one for this purpose because, as a portal to information, there’s always a great deal to read.

With the demise of Zite, I’m always on the lookout for a replacement news reader.  The Yahoo! page is OK on portable but I got to thinking that there might be something better.  So, I started poking around and there is.  It’s called Yahoo News Digest.  It’s perfect for portable where you don’t always have time to read and scroll through long involved stories.  It’s a perfect summary of things that you might want to know and a great dog walking companion!

Delivered in the morning and the evening, I’m finding that it’s an interesting place to start reading.  There’s no digging or deep scrolling through various levels or categories.  Typically, there are around 10 top stories treated in a nicely appealing visual fashion.  The related stories and researched background for each story makes it very interesting and a worthwhile application to get started.  A little story wheel at the bottom lets you know how many of the stories you’ve clicked through to read.

Want more than 10 stories and related articles? – just click on the read more button …

You never miss a chance to read a digest because it shows up on the phone screen as a notification when your latest issue is ready.

I think that the format is perfect for portable.  It truly isn’t just a regular website repurposed for a smaller screen.  It’s a completely different approach.

To date, it’s been a great addition to my readings collections.  From an education perspective, it gives a real reason to writing topic summaries.