Electrical Components

I think you've pretty much nailed it, particularly the convenience of printed matter for 'old school' types. It's pretty much an age thing. Those of us who grew up and learned to read from the printed page will usually still prefer it. We've learned to leaf through pages looking for a specific page or articles on a specific topic. Our eyes and hands have learned to quickly skip through pages with articles and ads that are outside our interests. But my college age sons are as intuitive with a mouse as I am with my thumb and forefinger, having grown up around computers and video games.

Having said that, I try to get the digital version as much as possible, because there is just so much out there. Most issues I'm lucky to find an article and maybe a few ads that are for my purposes 'worth the paper they're printed on'.

The Christian Science Monitor, an internationally respected, Pulitzer winning paper announced they will drop their print version but for a once a week magazine type mailing. This is the largest of the print newspapers to make such an announcement. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003878550

Today's page: http://www.csmonitor.com/

Sorry to see it go, but I think it is a very forward-minded decision. Ahead of the curve, as usual.

Alexis

I partially agree to your apprehensions. First, with so much of information available at click of a button, you are accessible to the best in an instant that too in the most environmentally friendly way. Second, it is impossible to replace books for their sheer value of content and style. I feel both have their own place in the literature world.

Being respectful towards nature will help in not loosing anymore endangered species like Dodo birds.

Digital certainly agrees with the 'green' movement a lot more.

Also, the "old school" will eventually be replaced with those of us who are computer / digital school.

While books will always certainly has some inherent value, I can easily see newletters, magazines, and etc. periodicals dissapearing for favor of the digital format. For example, the link to CR4 comes to me from a Globalspec e-newsletter. I personally get a lot more out of browsing the links in the Globalspec newsletters than any print periodicals. For one thing, if a topic strikes my interest, I'm already online and can Google up a bunch more info. The end of a print article is just that - the end. This is the same idea listed above as a distraction - I call it a benefit.

The discipline required to 'stay on task' is pretty limited. If I'm looking for one specific topic or item, I just keep following that topic. If I find things that are so interesting I must have them, I can bookmark them for later (no distraction).

But then, I'm from that "college age" group...

Its a demographics issue. Baby boomers think of something in print media as real.

Current generation of "Netsters"- those who have never lived with out the internet via computer in their lifetime now entering the workforce say "whats a trade magazine?"

They do not read print versions of newspapers; they do not have a land line phone, and see fax machines as edison type victrola technology.

Those in between tend to see the ubiquity of the web as useful.

We in the trade associations are moving content to web to make it available to those who do not pick up printed content. We are maintaining print versions for our existing readership.

THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE IS ONE OF EDITING! when I grew up, (no internet) the essential issue was finding the information that I needed. Once I found it, (in print) it was gold.

Today, anything can be found on the web, but its validity is suspect. So editing or creating a "credible space" is what is needed to give the reader confidence. That is what we need to do to maintain the value of our information.

milo

Newspapers really want to die, but it is not just the internet that is killing them it is also the cost of daily delivery. I look to see newspapers eventually get completely replaced by digital.

Reference books are expensive to purchase and always out of date by the time they get printed - they're doomed. Same goes for school text books (except for Literature). Interactive learning tools work very well for kids.

On the other hand, I really don't see print for entertainment purposes such as books and magazines going obsolete any time soon. When I want to read for entertainment I prefer paper. I cannot relax with a computer in front of me because it requires concentration and focus to deal with all of the "distracto-benefits." Also, I find it more convenient to pick up a book or a magazine that does not have to warm up before I can read it. Besides, I doubt that we'll see stacks of laptops sitting around at the doctor's office or the barber shop instead of magazines in the near future.