Sometimes great ideas are just slightly ahead of their time. Case in point was eDay, a Web site launched in April 2000 that allowed users to customize and print out their very own full–color Italian language daily newspaper as a PDF document. eDay was a real newspaper and had content similar to that of a national daily, including advertisements, and was completely different from every other newspaper, either traditional or online. First, because it was built from scratch with the intention of seamlessly integrating with the Internet, rather than adapting passively to it, and second, because it was designed to be read on paper rather than being seen and read in HTML.

Alas, as luck would have it, the company was launched just as the Internet bubble burst, and eDay: Il quotidiano senza prezzo, succumbed to the same financial pressures that doomed many Internet start-ups. Just a short time after the innovative design and functionality of eDay debuted, the company ceased operations, and users were forced to use the old-fashioned, limited "print this article" function available on other news sites.

Scroll ahead several years, and enter 4minuti, a new Web site that, like eDay, is a free daily Italian-language newspaper specifically designed to be printed out. Like eDay, 4minuti has daily sections such as Cronaca, Esteri, Politica, Economia, Sport, and Cultura, and like eDay, subscribers can even register to have 4minuti e-mailed to them every day.

Like a fine Barolo, sometimes it takes a few years for a great idea to mature!