Knight-Ridder produced a video in 1994 demonstrating their faith in the tablet newspaper of the future. Below is the video in its entirety.
We may still use computers to create information but we'll use the tablet to interact with information.
The expert of the video insists that newspaper loyalty will not disappear with the digital age:
Many of the technologists.....assume that information is just a commodity and people really don't care where that information comes from as long as it matches their set of personal interests. I disagree with that view. People recognize the newspapers they subscribe to.....and there is a loyalty attached to those.
In short, "the technologists" were right. Newspaper companies are suing Google because their readers are less loyal than ever and simply want trustworthy news, whatever the source.
You can download this video at the Open Video Project.
Look at the close-ups of the bearded expert in 1994:
ReplyDeleteevery time he denies the impact digital news might have on the popularity of printed papers, his eyes shift sideways!
;-)
And then there was Clarke's "Newspad" in "2001: A Space Odyssey".
ReplyDeleteIn related news, the new postal rates will hit small magazines and publications harder than the big ones. One publisher was decrying how unfair it all was on the radio this morning. Hey, go online, web-only, subscription based and ignore the PO. It seems to be working for Baen Books and their SF eZine Jim Baen's Universe (he says, having just renewed his subscription for another six issues).
Good point, and I think struggling magazines must rethink how to reach their customers... or perish.
ReplyDelete(I ran into this problem way back in the early 1990s, when I had to search the local newsagents to get an imported computer-game magazine which arrived -- late -- by ship from the UK. Ironic: a mag about computer games could not be read digitally! :))
I was a little disappointed when I discovered you weren't referring to a newspaper that could be swallowed as a pill. Because such a thing would be great to go with your breakfast in a pill. Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteRoger Fidler has a lot less hair today than he did 13 years ago.
ReplyDeleteReading Magazines?
ReplyDeleteDigitally?
Already ahead of you!
http://www.mobizines.com
:)
Cool blog by the way,
But we do have tablet computers. We have for about six years. And now we have even smaller UMPCs, tablet computers the size and weight of a paperback book.
ReplyDeleteMy father worked for Knight Ridder for nearly all of his working life, finally retiring about 10 years ago as one of the heads of production. I remember many nights when as a kid, he would finally come home very late as they shifted from "hot type" to "cold type" and hearing him speak about the mess. He was was ahead of his time in regard to where newspaper production was headed. I give the organization kudos for at least being open to the idea of change. I will pass on your blog link to him.
ReplyDeleteThank you.