We have an mp3 player in our house… somewhere. (I’ve always thought those
things were too small for their own good.) I’ve rarely used it for music and
have never listened to a podcast, but after reading Lynn Pribus’ helpful
article (“Podcasting 101,” page 14), I just may give it a try.
I’ll always be a radio listener, though. I like the surprises that come with
letting someone else find stories and music for me. I consider it a benefit
of travel to listen to local news snippets, commercials and music choices in
other towns and states.
There’s definitely room in my aural world for new and old technologies. And
if I were looking for a date, I imagine there’d be room in my romantic world
to try Diane York’s online recommendations (“Love at First Byte?” page 14)
and old methods such as matchmakers and the social scene.
And of course, there’s room in my mental world for both online and print
publications. To get hung up on the “paper” part of “newspaper” misses the
main point—the news. The internet allows quicker delivery of more news to
more people. (However, just because the internet allows this doesn’t mean it
always happens; see #5 below.) In other words, it does the job of newspapers
better, just as newspapers spread news more effectively than broadsides and
town criers.
The online format is most effective for national and international news, of
course, and for information intended for a highly specific audience united
by interest rather than geography. But why not drop the print form of all
newspapers and magazines? That day may come, but here’s why I’m digging in
my heels:
1. I like the physical pleasure of holding open a paper and taking in the entire page with a quick glance, scanning for stories and photos of interest. In fact, trying to browse news on a computer screen makes me feel claustrophobic.
2. I like the idea of hiding behind the newspaper or a magazine while riding a crowded subway. Unfortunately, I’ve never lived anywhere with a subway, but I have employed printed matter for this purpose on the bus.
3. Summer’s coming. Laptops don’t make an effective sunshade while reading/dozing by the pool.
4. As an editor, I’m perpetually curious about the great mystery of print: what people are actually reading. Online, that can be tracked. As a reader, I don’t especially like that.
5. I’m more apt to finish a long article if it’s in a magazine lying on my coffee table or bedside stand, where I can read in installments. Online, my eyes get tired, I get distracted by other links and headlines, I just don’t finish it. (Or else, anticipating these very reactions, the online editors decided for me that a long article should be a short article, thus delivering less news to more people.)
6. I’m not willing to give up the quiet beauty of a well-designed page that doesn’t move, blink, pop up or drop down.
If you’re reading this, surely you share a few of my sentiments. So rustle these pages and read on!
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