Dilbert creator predicts the end of news print
October 8th, 2007 • Internet, Media
…And it all rests on the evolution of the iPhone, apparently.
I predict that the end of printed newspapers will happen in the time it takes for most people to upgrade their cell phones two more times. The iPhone, and its inevitable copycats, (let’s call them iClones) are newspaper killers.
When you have a web browser in your pocket, a printed newspaper is redundant. Eventually, all cell phones will have Internet browsing built in. You might not have a web browser on your next cell phone, but the one after that will have it as a standard feature.
The Dilbert Blog: The Future of Newspapers
There’s one catch in this theory: a percentage of the population will always want to read a story in full, and at leisure. I now trudge around with an iPod touch in my pocket. While its web browser (same as that in the iPhone) is guaranteed to make you giggle, it doesn’t transform the reading experience. Or maybe you disagree.
I hear views that magazines and newspapers should begin to emulate websites - bite-sized chunks, 50-word paragraphs, you know the kind of stuff. Snack media. Then, over the weekend, I sat in a a coffee shop thumbing through the latest issue of Monocle. There are words in it, lots of them, and they are sized to be read. It works. It’s also evidence that there was a counter school of thought - print should do what it (still) does best, namely present the written word in a way that allows you to follow a narrative for more than 30 seconds.
One Response (Add Your Comment)
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Lynne Smith November 5, 2007at 9:57 pm
I am a baby boomer, almost to the big 60 and until they make the iphone or cell phone of what ever with letters that can be read by me, I will continue to use email. I have no desire to try and text someone from a pad so small and letters that I can only make out when the sun is just right. I do not like all of the abbreviations and I think that it just takes more personal connection away from communication.