How fast did you say? Google’s announcement last week that it intends to build a trial internet network that operates at a 1 gigabit per second transmission rate (typical services now are 5 megabits per second) will finish off newsprint if rolled out on a large scale. This initial trial will encompass about 500,000 users, but don’t expect it to be that size for long when they get the bugs worked out.

I have recently started delineating paper uses as “tangible” and “intangible.” Tangible uses include tissue, packaging, and some limited printed uses (such as greeting cards, for example). Intangible uses are those which solely convey thoughts and information, often through printed word and printed images.

The Google announcement, on the heels of Apple’s iPad announcement, suggests ever more strongly: If you want to be in pulp and paper, get yourself to the tangible paper grades. Now.