Ticker tape, circa 2013: New York Times breaking news alerts come to Little Printer

At launch, tabletop “newspaper” printer Little Printer was surprisingly devoid of news. The internet-connected machine spat out a variety of beautiful and tiny “publications” like an architecture digest from ARUP and headlines from The Guardian, but only every so often. Today, the device is getting its first taste of the analog-yet-instant news we wanted when we first tried it. Little Printer creator Berg has just announced the launch of breaking news alerts from The New York Times, delivered the moment they happen right to your desk. The news coincidentally comes just a week after the Times rolled out its Google Glass push alerts — the total opposite end of the technology spectrum.

The Little Printer alerts are the first to take advantage of Berg’s Push API, which will soon be available for all developers to use. It’s easy to imagine all sorts of ways that Little Printer could make push notifications a little more personal and tangible; for instance, Berg has already field-tested instant “welcome” printouts triggered by patrons checking in to a cafe using Foursquare. Fortunately, Little Printer is pretty hacker-friendly, so it shouldn’t be too tough to whip up your own alerts using IFTTT, Twine, or otherwise. The device still isn’t cheap at $219, but it’s sure to please any tech nerd with a taste for design, breaking news, and using up rolls of receipt paper.