It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the medium-of-choice for readers. Will the dpi, once increased, make it easier for readers to embrace the electronic screen? Will there be some newfangled electronic “paper”, that feels like paper, and maybe even smells like it, but contains software that collects content for me and displays it in a readable format?

So many questions, I know. But at least I’m now introduced to this site. Maybe I’ll take the leap and start a blog after all.

Thanks again,
Brian

Anything that requires delivery, has volatile content, or depends on advertising for most revenue, is digital toast. The reason is not that a newspaper or magazine is a bad medium for the reader. The printing, delivery, and disposal costs are just too high. And for newspapers, the Internet provides a choice for the first time. (never mind the other problem with ownership)

The consensus among my friends has been that 300dpi B&W is the minimum for comfortable reading, and of course digital screens are not there yet. But as I note, printing is getting very sloppy ( my eyes ain’t getting better either). And some electronic ink solutions are starting to appear on the market. And people do a lot of reading on their computer screens today.

OK I have no crystal ball. This process probably will take decades. But here are two examples from my life:

1) I am working on a motorcycle magazine start-up. Some of us are experienced moto-journalists, I am the tech guy. We had a talk about the medium, and print lasted less than 10 seconds as an option. Why? because the start-up costs are prohibitive, and it involves a huge ongoing infrastructure.

2) A friend is selling pdfs ( computer how-tos ) with optional paper-bound books. It’s an experiment off a well-known website. They are doing surprisingly well at $5 a pop. Yes people still buy the paper version, but not the majority.