2008 Woodie Awards
Technology endangers traditional newspaper
Marlon Scott
Issue date: 6/4/08 Section: Perspectives
I am old enough to remember using a card catalog in the library. I also remember looking up information for book reports in several volumes of encyclopedias. Both tools, essential to my educational experience at the time, can probably be found only in museums or the basements of myriad "pack-rat" grandparents. Technology has rendered them obsolete.
As society advances at the speed of flying microchips with the Internet, hi-def digital displays and incredible shrinking super-phones, old ways of communication and learning become extinct. Prepare to add the newspaper to the top of this growing list.
The newspaper will soon be extinct. But, don't mistakenly associate this inevitability with a lack of demand for news. Our desire to learn and devour all information is still growing exponentially. In fact, it is this insatiable desire which is driving the newspaper down the one way path of the dinosaur.
Now, more than ever in the history of mankind, the world is connected. Every conceivable aspect of information can now be shared across the planet in seconds. This power is both awesome and addictive. Like children who learn to run, we are not content to crawl again.
Consider the tragedy of 9/11. Eloquent writers produced pages of words trying to convey the shock and pain of such a horrendous event afterwards. But the paper everyone had that morning and the subsequent editions paled in comparison to the video footage, blanket network coverage and instantaneous internet reaction on this infamous day.
From the launch of the first 24-hour news channel, to the stat tracking alerts fantasy players receive via cell phones, examples of the growing demand for instantaneous news are endless. People who before had the time and patience to sit down in the morning and enjoy the newspaper delivered to their doorstep by a diligent, early rising paperboy are now logging on to the Internet and watching streaming video.
The same technology providing us the ability to prepare for destructive weather or track suddenly missing children is rendering the newspaper ineffective. Breaking news is the future and the newspaper as we know it now is falling behind.
As society advances at the speed of flying microchips with the Internet, hi-def digital displays and incredible shrinking super-phones, old ways of communication and learning become extinct. Prepare to add the newspaper to the top of this growing list.
The newspaper will soon be extinct. But, don't mistakenly associate this inevitability with a lack of demand for news. Our desire to learn and devour all information is still growing exponentially. In fact, it is this insatiable desire which is driving the newspaper down the one way path of the dinosaur.
Now, more than ever in the history of mankind, the world is connected. Every conceivable aspect of information can now be shared across the planet in seconds. This power is both awesome and addictive. Like children who learn to run, we are not content to crawl again.
Consider the tragedy of 9/11. Eloquent writers produced pages of words trying to convey the shock and pain of such a horrendous event afterwards. But the paper everyone had that morning and the subsequent editions paled in comparison to the video footage, blanket network coverage and instantaneous internet reaction on this infamous day.
From the launch of the first 24-hour news channel, to the stat tracking alerts fantasy players receive via cell phones, examples of the growing demand for instantaneous news are endless. People who before had the time and patience to sit down in the morning and enjoy the newspaper delivered to their doorstep by a diligent, early rising paperboy are now logging on to the Internet and watching streaming video.
The same technology providing us the ability to prepare for destructive weather or track suddenly missing children is rendering the newspaper ineffective. Breaking news is the future and the newspaper as we know it now is falling behind.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
S. Bernard
posted 6/04/08 @ 10:58 AM CST
I too remember the card catalog in the library. Sometimes I even miss it. I hate the thought of not having a paper newspaper to read. Yes, in my hurried life sometimes I only read the electronic version, but I find it is missing the small things; the smell, the ink on my hands, and at times I find I miss certain articles. (Continued…)
suzzq
S. Bernard
posted 6/04/08 @ 11:03 AM CST
I too remember the card catalog in the library. Sometimes I even miss it. I hate the thought of not having a paper newspaper to read. Yes, in my hurried life sometimes I only read the electronic version, but I find it is missing the small things; the smell, the ink on my hands, and at times I find I miss certain articles. (Continued…)
Bill Harding
posted 6/04/08 @ 11:05 AM CST
I remember back in the 90's having to take a class on the dewey decimal system and cite at least three encyclopedias. That was also a time when teachers didn't know how to teach bibliography citations for web pages! Now that is all history. (Continued…)
Post a Comment