After reading the latest post at E-Marketing for Sensible Folk, I came to the conclusion that the more time goes on, the less relevance non-internet media will have in our society. Newsweek, a magazine that had been around since 1933, was apparently given away after facing huge losses in 2009. The new owner, Sidney Harman, agreed to only taking over the companies financial liabilities from the previous owner, The Washington Post. Check out this link for more info. Newsweek, like many other media companies, had a business model that didn't support the explosion of digital media and it is obvious from the huge losses that they faced.
From my own experience, I have seen the impact that digital media has had on the people around me. For example, my mom is a big-time reader and let's just say she isn't the most tech-savvy person. I always saw her reading different novels, magazines and newspapers throughout the years. Nowadays, she reads on a Kindle, which updates her with new subscriptions for certain magazines and newspapers. It also allows her to read e-books and has a very user-friendly interface. Websites like Flickr and Photobucket are used by massive amounts of people to upload and share photographs.
I have been browsing the internet and using many of its features since it first starting gaining popularity. I remember starting with a 28Kbps dial-up modem. Since the introduction of web browsing, I can honestly say that a very large portion of the reading I have done has been behind the computer screen. Nowadays, even some of my textbooks are only available in digital format. All of us here are taking an online class, a concept that 20 or 30 years ago would have probably been laughed at.
The fact that so many magazines and newspapers are going out of business is a significant factor in the debate of non-internet media but that only scratches the surface. Just think about how far we have come in the amount of data that can be transferred with internet capabilities. Nowadays, with fiber optic technology, we can stream high definition movies from YouTube. There are websites where you can stream live TV and services like Netflix are now compatible with the internet to make watching movies online hassle-free.
I made the big switch to digital media a long time ago and I think it is happening for a large portion of the population. I've probably owned about 3 VHS tapes so far in my lifetime, so I'll be looking for something else to put on eBay. :)
-Max Princiotta
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ReplyDeleteGreat post. Many magazines and newspapers are indeed going out of business, but you pointed out a great point: the amount of data that can be transferred over the internet makes it a no-brainer that this trend will--and should--continue.
ReplyDeleteFact is: we live in the information age and the new "normal" profession is knowledge work to some degree.
Knowledge workers demand their information be at their fingertips. It's reality. It's the truth.
As for those magazine and newspapers. Ha! Let them go out of business! My future job demands I consume the amount of information in one day that my parents did in two months. And that's only possible with digital media.
I guess it's either printed magazine or I that will go poor.
Survival of the fittest.
I agree with both of you. There are many new magazines that have opted to be completely online and one of the advantages is that these magazines get great attention from bloggers around the world, creating buzz which is beneficial to the magazine.
ReplyDeletehttp://theartofe-marketing.blogspot.com/