Ever since I was a little girl I have loved to read; whether it was a book, a newspaper or a magazine, the act of turning a page engaged me as I became enveloped in the written words on the pages.
Eventually my love of reading sparked my interest
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in writing, and so my dream has been to someday write for a magazine – however, attaining my ideal job is becoming less and less likely with the rapid advancements being made in technology, as there has been a constant decline in newspaper and magazine circulation.
When the newspaper first came to be, readers didn’t get their news from many other places. The newspaper kept them in touch with their community and the rest of the country; they became dependent upon it.
Now, people are capable of getting their news from the Internet on their PCs, MacBooks, iPhones and Blackberries. They can buy books, magazines and newspapers on their Kindles for a cheaper price. Will newspapers and magazines go belly-up because of decline in readership? Or will the physical items just cease to exist?
It has actually been proven that although less people are buying newspapers and magazines, the net readership has increased because of online editions, according to a 2008 New York Times article. Why is this? I understand that we are in the information age where news and gossip are as easily attainable as the push of a button, but how easy is it to read an article on a phone screen? It seems to me that taking away the physical action of holding a paper or turning a page makes the experience less real. Additionally, are you really exposed to all news stories if you’re reading an article on the Web? Instead of having to browse through all of the stories while reading a newspaper on the Internet you can type in exactly what or whom you are looking to read about and miss all the rest.
Will books soon become obsolete as well? Last year, I discovered that Amazon put out a product called the Kindle, a cutting edge electronic device that allows you to buy books, magazines and newspapers that are then auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
Both lighter and thinner than a book with a high-quality paper like screen, this product seems to be the future of books… but I’m not so sure I want it to be. Sure you would be able to purchase a book for cheaper and receive it more quickly, but the idea of pushing a button that turns a page for me is slightly disheartening, and furthermore, what if it crashes? Are all of the books you bought lost forever?
According to figures released by the Newspaper Association of America, the advertising revenue for newspapers in 2007 fell 9.4 percent to $42 billion, which, to date, is the worst drop in more than 50 years. The newspaper industry, however, has in recent years played down the drastic circulation declines according to a New York Times article, even though some of the circulation drop has been intentional. Most newspapers have reduced their physical size by downsizing their office space and staff.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoy being able to grasp a book, newspaper or magazine in my hands and physically turn the pages, and, hopefully, you do too. I find the idea of living in a world based solely around electronic devices slightly daunting; will favorite bookstores go out of business? I know that they most likely won’t go anywhere too soon, but I can’t imagine buying e-books for my kids and reading to them from a screen. Books, magazines and newspapers are concrete items that, unlike digital media, cannot crash or get viruses.’
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