Arabic-language daily An-Nahar has launched a Flash version of the paper (see photo), a huge mistake in the eyes of blogger Paul Bradshaw.

Bradshaw accuses the site of poor functionality, confusing interfaces, and a lack of both cost effectiveness and user-friendly tools, pointing out that there is no feature to bookmark a page or email it to a friend.

Virtual versions of newspapers have never really caught on with readers, mainly because they are often cumbersome to use. Most Internet literate sites choose not to use them. This being given, it is slightly bizarre that An-Nahar went the virtual route, considering that the site offers multiple advanced web technologies such as podcasts, widgets, mobile services, and RSS feeds.

Sources: E-Media Tidbits through IFRA Executive News Service