What’s white and black and read (“red”) all over?
What has long since been the companion of a morning coffee-drinker?
Heck, ever since I was a kid I even enjoyed it over lunch.
That’s right, it’s a newspaper. Are we nearing the end of this centuries-old legacy?
The development and “perfection” of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices are threatening newspapers all over the world, as well as some other printed materials. Now that we can easily Google any subject we want and check the daily news in a single click or keystroke, clumsy turning of oversized inky pages seems to have lost its charm. Or has it?
I have discovered that spilling tea or coffee (or juice, water, whatever your preferred beverage is) near a computer is a tad more stressful than dumping it near a newspaper. After all, you pay, what, a buck (give or take) for a newspaper? Besides, bringing a computer to the breakfast table may be a bit less socially acceptable than a newspaper.
Then again, maybe I’m just strange in the sense that I love the feeling of holding a newspaper, reading the day-old information, browsing the sports or classified sections, and just relaxing. Clicking and scrolling just doesn’t have the same effect for me.
However, as profits continue to decrease for many newspapers around the globe, eventually some will have to come to a big decision: convert to downloadable editions formatted to “beep” onto hand-held (or similar) devices, go completely online, or discontinue entirely.
Do you read a newspaper as much as you used to (if you ever did)?
Will you be sad to see the death of the newspaper as we know it?
What it is - people like easy. They (I mean we) like simple and less stressful. What I ask is are we simple or just lazy. maybe both. In the Air Force there is a saying "Work smarter not harder". That's my favorite saying. Why buy a newspaper when you can read on the internet for free.
I would be sad to see newspapers go. Not everything is online that is printed and I too just like the feel of the newspaper. I'm easily amused I guess, but I like unfolding the pages and saving clippings. It might be more convenient to just glue yourself to technology, but reading the paper is more fun in my book.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I agree. Just think... long after we're gone someone in the future might be digging up remnants of our civilization. What will they find? A bunch of obsolete technology with files that cannot be opened? The future peoples won't be able to know anything about our cultures and stories because we converted it all to electronic storage. However, if they dig up a random book or scrapbook of newspaper clippings (pretending, of course, that they were somehow preserved to stand the test of time), they'll get a better clue of how we once lived.
Our modern technology is great and all, but it'll be sad if we eventually lose our history because of it.