Which media has no future?

people have been forecasting the death of print for decades. and year after year we in the US print more and more paper every year. it's not going away any time soon. it may shift to more digital short run from offset, which i think is happening, but it's not going to die.

I agree with gwells. I think digital will grow tremendously. But there are lot of undeveloped places on earth. They won't be able to afford digital devices everywhere. Paper is here to stay for another several decades.

I think available media will generally increase as advertisers seek new ways of putting across their message. I think the strategies used will change. We're seeing that already with more targeted and socialised advertising methods. As technologies are added current media will evolve. Kind of like going from single to full colour printing.

The question we need to ask is; "How can I reach my market without getting under their skin?"

Print will be the first one buried, imo. Enter into the ring an electronic book that is non-glare and feels like the real printed McCoy, with any title I want only a download away...

But not soon. As pointed out above, expense comes into play.

Personally I think newspapers are going to be gone within 10-15 years. Where's the need? With intervals of 30 hours they're not accurate really, not living up to the demands of today.

I don't think it will disappear completely. I am sure the balance will be maintained. In order to maintain a hard copy of the details we like to save, we will need printers. Thanks!

Alcohawk

I would say that print is the next medium to bite the dust. I know we aren't quite there yet, but it really feels like it's around the corner. My iPhone has already gotten me used to doing more casual reading on an electronic device. I would like to see a larger version of the iPhone used for mashed version of print, audio, and video. I think that would be really cool.

Also as much as we might be used to the feel of traditional print I just don't see it fitting into the direction we need to move in. As we become more aware of global warming and try to curb it, it makes sense to try and become a more minimal society. Delivering books, magazines, and newspapers over an electronic device really makes sense from that perspective. You cut back on waste, transportation, and production. It's kind of something that really needs to happen.

I would like to inject a question in here. Most of the arguments affect the 1st world where these electronic devices are commonplace. Even then, the CB audience tends to be one that is "buying in" to the growth in the electronic device market. A slanted audience I would think. By March Apple had sold "more than 30 million iPhones and iPod Touch products". However, my one friend got 9 of those 30 million. So I don't think we can assume 30m products are equal to 30 million people. Even if we do that leaves 6,662,030,277 people (2008 numbers) without mobile Apple devices. Let's say 9 other companies are doing as well. That leaves 6,392,030,277 people without media enabled mobile devices. (Excluding "call and text" mobile phones. )We can assume more people own computers with computer piracy so rampant.

The so called "Digital Divide" is still huge; as technology improves, getting wider all the time. In a developing nation like South Africa getting an iPhone on a mobile plan is for the affluent only. Leaving the masses (including large numbers of web enabled, computer literates) behind.

Newspapers on the other hand are fairly cheap, and can be shared. Print might look like it's going somewhere to the slice of pie that resembles "CB Users", but to the rest of the world?

i'll reiterate that many times people have declared the death of print, and the death of newspapers. neither are going away soon.

the 1st world newspaper will undergo some dramatic changes and significant scaling back of print editions, i think. but as an industry, it will still exist.

as for the rest of print, until the amount of paper we print starts to actually decline, any news of its death is extremely premature.

Some of you seem to be confusing dailies with newspapers in general. I'd be surprised if daily newspapers survive the next 20 years in any form close to what they are now. Some will probably make it in much smaller size with much smaller circulation (with a complimentary - and probably more profitable - web edition). There are simply too many forces working against them... they are basically yesterday's news, the market is flooded with free (current) news via the internet, cable tv, and broadcast television and - most importantly imho - the younger generation is not exposed to them in the way older folks were. Kids and younger adults have not grown up with the morning newspaper - reading the paper during breakfast and coffee, etc... So they haven't gotten into the habit of buying a paper everyday. This - more than anything - spells the end of dailies, imo. Another thing is newspapers have handled this situation totally wrong. The advantage to newspapers is the local angle and the ability to investigate large, complex issues. Instead of focusing on these advantages, the corporations who have taken over newspapers and consolidated them have looked at the bottom line instead. So they cut salary wherever possible and consolidate in ways that are totally insane. I'll give you the perfect example - I live in an NFL town - we have a team. But our newspaper fired the local guy and instead are now using the wire guy who lives in Los Angeles - a city that doesn't even have a football team. So instead of getting a local angle on the local team, we now get a generic editorial on the entire league instead - something you can find in 1000 other places besides the local paper. And forget large investigations by large teams of reporters - that's too expensive. It's much easier to report on Lindsay Lohan's latest drug rehab adventure. So dailies - imho - are already on life support and will be gone shortly unless something drastic happens to the business model in general.

That said, dailies are not the only newspaper vehicles out there. Right now my business revolves around trade newspapers and one of my clients just decided - in the middle of the worst recession in 70 years - to add another edition. Obviously everyone is hurting in today's economy, but there are no real signs that targeted publications are dying due to the internet, cable, etc... On the contrary - every year there are more publications launched. It always has been a tough business, but total extinction? Highly doubtful. It's hard to kill any information vehicle (I'd be hard pressed to name any type of media that's "disappeared" altogether) - but especially one that has the built in base that print has.

How soon we forget once they're dead! Now I remember Snoop Dog's joke...

"I was going to listen to some Ice-T on the way over here, but my car doesn't have a tape deck."