Home » Archives » November 2004 » Reading, How I get my News, etc... [Previous entry: "How to win Mario"] [Next entry: "My (Jon's) Christmas List 2004!"] 11/29/2004: "Reading, How I get my News, etc..." listening to: I just realized how quiet it is in here...so NPR
feeling: Um...Full of Tuna

Okay, so I was reading this article about how newspapers are freaking out about losing readers, or not getting new, young readers...and I think it's dumb how they are approaching it. Why don't they realize that the reason that their product is not getting picked up is because it SUCKS?!?

Seriously? Which is better? A searchable, scanable, scalable RSS Newsfeed filled with only topics that you care to read about, by authors that you care to read, delivered to your cellphone, PDA, or Laptop; or a 5 pound wad of low-quality paper that you have to carry around, getting ink on your hands, and eventually taking up space on your desk before it takes up space in your trash can before it takes up space in a landfill or "recycling" center?

Seriously? Did you have to think about it?

Replies: 3 Comments

On Monday, November 29th, David E. Cloud III said

And i am reminded of personal irony....and feeling a need to respond to your lament. Having a dual major in communications, i see the United States and moreover the civilized world in general are making a huge move not so much away from newspapers but information in a tangible form overall. That being said, those who bring its product to its consumers in a tangible form, whether it be the post office, newspapers or periodicals, etc. are finding their markets are decreasing with each coming year.
Reasons for this are not attributed to their 'sucking' nor lack of good content. Everyone knows what sections they enjoy reading most in newspapers. Mine, generally are the front section and sports. If it is sunday, i get the funnies out as well. Thing is, all of that is available to me every single day at any given time. It used to be, you buy a paper, or you watch the news at night. With Blogs, and having an higher than average competency of navigating the "internets" as Bush would call it, i can find out generally what i want when i want. With every passing day, more and more folks are realizing the benefits. My grandparents are lost causes, and even with my parents, they dont think of a computer as the first thing they need to solve a problem or get an answer to a question that has been bugging them. There are card catalogs in libraries and volumes of encyclopedias for that. All i am saying is that newspapers in theory are a must. Whether they be shot through a cathode ray tube or printed.

On Monday, November 29th, Jon said

Yeah man, and here's my thing: Instead of sitting around bitching about why young people don't buy newspapers, why don't they develop one that's worth buying?

One common response, in the article I read, to "Why Don't You Want a Subscription to Our Paper, even if it's Free?" was "I don't want a bunch of old papers in my house." And I think that's great. I am the same way. I hate getting mail, unless it's check, or my monthly copy of Wired, bills, statements, ads, ANYTHING. I don't want to have to CLEAN UP all this shit I didn't ask for.

And actually, WIRED is a good example. I pay for WIRED. Wired makes their content available for free, and I still buy it, and you know why? Because it's a nice magazine. I like the authors/articles, and I like the design, and it's a hell of a lot more portable than my PC. I don't have to charge it, and the articles are mostly very short and "toilet friendly". I even read the free weekly in Fort Worth...most weeks from cover to cover. And I've started picking up the Dallas one too. I like the writers. I read them because they are smart, and I like them, and they don't SUCK.

On Friday, August 26th, online gambling said

The ministry of public security said the network was run by a taiwan-based gambling company, which jointly organised online gambling activities in 22 provinces