I just told someone the other day that we’re moving more and more away from being a written word society. It starts with print and eventually the same thing will happen online. Mark my words: 95% of our communication will all be audio or video in the next 5-7 years – possibly sooner.
How do I know?
1) Because people are basically lazy. The energy it takes to type something, it’s much easier to say it.
2) More and more ‘newbies’ who don’t know how to type and want to squash the Mavis Beacon learning curve will want a short cut. That short cut is audio and video. We all learn how to talk. Not everyone learns how to type fast enough to keep pace with today’s flow of information.
3) Heck, even Tom Peters is raving about the latest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking.
4) These days it’s all about leaving a “zero carbon footprint”. You can’t do that if you’re cutting down trees, printing on them and sucking down tons of ink.
Here are some things you should consider:
* Brush up on your oral communication skills. If you prefer to hide behind text-based email, woe be unto you. But, then again, you can always send an audio email – this is becoming more and more popular.
* If you’re a print designer, learn how to code CSS and customize blogs. Now.
* If you’re a print advertiser, start making plans to digitize and track your ads online – it’s easier this way anyhow. Also, consider how your company can uniquely leverage being an event sponsor.
* Are you a project manager at a print publication? Make sure your job isn’t solely tied to the print portion of your company. If it is start volunteering to take on web-based projects.
* If you’re a printer, start looking into digital distribution.
* If you’re a copywriter for print publications – learn how to write for the web. Now.
* If you’re a writer, develop a system for leveraging your online materials both online and off. Leveraging print materials offline still works effectively – for now.
* If you’re a reader, get used to reading articles online – and for crying outloud learn how to subscribe to RSS feeds!
* Publishers be prepared to go mobile. There’s a reason online music has caught on the way it has. Music is personal. People want their music to be portable. Hence playlists were invented. People already have a playlist for their reading. It’s called and RSS feed. Just wait until more people learn how to really use them. That’s the ticket.
* Publishers should also prepare to go online. With trendy trade pubs like Blogger & Podcaster popping up with easy digital delivery one must remain relevant and competitive.
Some people will still want to savor the feeling of paper between their fingers as they read. There’ll be some die-hard types for sure but, digital is where this train’s headed. All aboard.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Journalism, The Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.4 Responses to “Print Dies, but the Internet Springs Eternal”
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August 31st, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Hi Lena — It’s interesting that I just cancelled a newspaper subscription because I was just fine with reading the headlines sent to me by email every morning. I still love magazines because they’re portable (although an iphone might make that unnecessary if one prefers to watch YouTube in our down moments). I Still use my library card on a weekly basis, so not ready to give up books yet. But, I once said that about my beloved morning newspaper …
Diane
August 31st, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Hi Diane!
*sigh* Alas the digital age beckons…
Thanks for sharing!
-Lena
September 4th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I like what Diane said — Print is Portable — while I agree that internet will dominate (and can be portable)- there will always be a place for print in our world. I’m all for reducing the carbon footprint, but I think people still like to touch and feel a book or magazine in the real world . . . and I think newspapers will figure out a marriage between print and internet – they won’t go away just yet.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Rachael:
Absolutely, hence my statement:
“Some people will still want to savor the feeling of paper between their fingers as they read. There’ll be some die-hard types for sure…”
Thanks for commenting!
-Lena