Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Significant of Paper


As magazines evolve with today’s media trends, the necessity for using paper in the future tends to dwindle. When you ask someone what they think what will happen to paper in the future you frequently get the same response “paper will no longer be in existence because digital technology will overtake.” So, how significant is the paper for the publication industry? Can we live without paper if we continue to live in a digital technology world? Today you have books, magazines, and documents all available in digital media. On the other hand, you have some industries that are anti-digital and are still using paper. Clearly paper has been a significant invention and has been a great contribution for publishing industry. And moving on to digital and leaving paper behind will have a great impact on the way we advertise, how we profit and of course, our content.

When you look through the pages on a print magazine you observe many advertisements. Some you scratch and sniff, some have di-cuts as part of their advertisement, and others you lift to see underneath. These previous examples are the many wonderful flexible things how you are able to control and use paper. In comparison, you have SPIN magazine that has uploaded their magazine online, where you could link to your advertisement’s websites and start shopping. But is that a better experience than print advertisements? Of course both have their disadvantages and advantages.

Economically, digital is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Today print production prices are increasing and not everyone uses recyclable paper. After all, the world surely cannot afford to keep loosing trees at the rate it’s going.

Reading content on paper is different from reading content on digital. One example could be the length of the content; you have more freedom to extend your content on paper than what you do on digital. Another example is the type of content; you feel more obligated to use content that is easy to the eye on screen than when you are reading on paper.

These previous examples are few of the disadvantages and advantages of how paper is significant. Whether, you would like to believe it or not paper does make a difference. So, are we ready to let paper die out?

1 comment:

Sandra Ventura said...

i think that there are a lot of things that can be done online and with digital media that can't be done with paper, but i don't think that magazines online will ever replace a paper magazine. Reading a magazine on a computer screen gets old, and isn't as easy to tote around, and share, and isnt as intimate (and can never really be) as paper.good points though!