The Hartford (Connecticut) Courant has brought a digital reproduction of The Courant's print version to the small screen, making the newspaper accessible, downloadable and searchable from computers or iPhones.

eCourant differs from the newspaper's Web site courant.com, as the Web site focuses on breaking news, offering a different format for news and information, while eCourant is a smaller version of the print format.

On eCourant, stories can be viewed in either “graphic view” or “text view.” The graphic displays articles as they appear in the print version, and articles can be e-mailed or printed in either setting, The Courant reported Monday.

“From a reader representative's point of view, it's the next best thing to a large-type version of The Courant,” writes Karent Hunter, The Courant's reader representative. “For all those readers who have called me over the years complaining that the type is too small to complete the crossword puzzle or to finish a Sudoku puzzle or just to read Page A2, eCourant might be the solution - if you are willing to sit at a computer to read the daily newspaper or to print out the information.”

Although being able to access the newspaper via mobile or computer from anywhere has its clear advantages, there are drawbacks. Readers viewing the paper via eCourant are unable to view the entire page on the screen, making it “reminiscent of reading the newspaper on microfilm at the local library,” Hunter stated.

“I'm not quite ready to give up inky fingers completely, but I can't help but see a future with less newsprint.”