The Paper of 2018

The continued lack of foresight by newspaper ownership never ceases to amaze.

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Which is why it will be until 2028 when solutions are discovered. Until then, they'll do surveys, have focus groups and put people in those decision-making positions who are out of the loop with technology.

 

Doubtful.

Even if it did happen, it would have already bled the business too dry to salvage it.

But hey, we'll all do well as Wal-Mart greeters!

 

But some people, movie-rental companies especially, are working on ways to easily get programming from your computer to your TV. So it won't be a matter of watching a local-news Webcast on a computer screen, you'll be watching it on your TV.

Anyway, I'm not sure that any perceived aversion to watching video on a computer will remain so. You have people watching movies on MP3 players with a screens considerably smaller than the one attached to their PC. People watch porn online. Youtube thrives.

 

I guess I wasn't clear enough. I don't think even in 10 years a Web-only news product will be viable. I said IF there's enough advertising revenue online, companies would eagerly dump the newsprint product. But I don't think that will happen within 10 years. And I think once newspaper companies accept that, they will do the smart thing and try to protect the newsprint franchise a little better instead of undermining it by giving away exclusive content on the Web. As I've written on other threads, I think newspapers ought to see the Internet as a way of cutting into TV's franchise instead of as a newspaper on a computer screen.

 

Maybe this internet thing is just a fad.

 

Many newspaper companies will be near Web-only within five years. I'm betting on Gannett.

Within 10 years, there will be major advances in online presentation of news and newspaper companies will make a comeback. Actual print will be all but dead except for some freebies and maybe a handful of major metros.

 

I've heard the Orange County Register is considering the online-only model, or some form of it.

 

I'm guessing the biggest issue of going online only and getting rid of circulation, printing and distribution is any kind of unions at the big-city papers.

Otherwise, I don't know where to begin. But, as papers continue to cut real positions, I'm sure I'll have a steady supplemental income from stringing football gamers for $35 per week.

 

You can do that today with iTunes (and an Apple TV) or Amazon Unbox (with a TiVo box).

 

Perhaps he'll find further inspiration from the Bob Edwardses of the world.

 

There are other ways to do that, too:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how_to/4213002.html

But the companies are working on less complicated ways so the practice will become more widespread.

 

In 10 years, I don't know how much the landscape would change. Perhaps there will be fewer papers, but I don't see such a drastic change (in the form of getting rid of actual paper) in that small amount of time.

If anything, I know Amazon just came out with that (rather clunky and seemingly-useless) e-book reader, which looks like a large, white PDA. Perhaps the papers would probably download to that thing every morning for people to read and save the cost that way. I just find it hard to believe the physical copy would be gone so soon.