…There will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.
Steve Ballmer in the Washington Post, Thursday June 5, 2008
It never ceases to amaze me how many otherwise smart people simply don’t understand the history of media. New media NEVER kill off old media, they just change the role of the media that came before.
People still go see and hear live music despite the existence of records and CDs. People still go to the theatre despite the existence of movies. People still go to movies despite the existence of TV and DVD players. People will still read newspapers and magazines despite the existence of computers and the Internet… for a very, VERY long time to come.
Thinking about how digital will change the role of traditional offline media is a worthy and interesting pursuit. Proclaiming them dead is just intellectual laziness.
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I’m not sure I can see newspapers in print format last as long as you do. The whole point of these forms of media was to get the story quickly. Already, we hear people comment about the newspapers delivering “yesterday’s news”. Print just can’t keep up with digital in that respect. What purpose would a print version have if all of it’s stories have been scooped and expanded upon on-line?
Magazines might have a better chance, as the majority of content is non-time-sensitive. The lure of the big glossy photos will still be there, and you don’t get the same effect online.
Actually, newspapers haven’t been the fastest way to get news out to the masses for about 70-80 years — since the advent of radio. I’d argue that radio and television news have already changed newspapers where they are much more about depth of information than speed.
It’s the interaction model that has kept and will keep newspapers alive for quite a while. McLuhan said it best: “People don’t actually read newspapers. They step into them every morning like a hot bath.” Digital media are a LONG way from replacing that experience.
Why do we want newspapers to survive?…
Having worked for a media company, I regularly read and comment on articles and blog posts about the future of newspapers. This morning I was about to rebut a comment by my friend Jay Moonah on a post titled “Google…
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