CTRL + P SHALL PREVAIL.. Ladies and gentlemen, it is the dawn of a new era. Technology is on the scene with guns blazing and is taking names. What does this mean for older traditions and methodology like books and magazines? Extinction! Disrepute! Annihilation! ALL THE ABOVE ?
[ By Aditi Dash & Sibya Rosalyn ] 1
CTRL + P SHALL PREVAIL..
“THE FLOOD OF DIGITAL MEDIA HAS TURNED READING INTO A PROCESS OF GULPING RATHER THAN SAVORING. “
The correct answer for that would be, none of the above. Each media has managed to create its own time and space across cultures and around the world. The print media too, be it the newspapers or books, has been able to hold its own. Thanks to the distinct features, the ease of use and the reach of every media, they all have managed to create a specific target audience or readership for themselves. There is a little bit of appeal for everyone in every media. Contrary to this, many experts are portraying immense faith in digital media. They believe that just as new printing techniques revolutionised the industry and gave birth to full page color images in print media, digital content will change the way we read and consume print media in the future. Undebatably, it is a more advanced and more innovative form of media by incorporating elements that enrich the reading experience - like rich colour photos that can be enlarged, video, sound, animations and 3D images - at the fingertips of every reader. This 2
is a medium that can reach the masses faster, to the point of watching something live. Another frequent reason given for the electronic media’s growing popularity is its impact on the environment. Many feel the trend towards increasing use of digital media can only bring environmental benefits, as producing magazines and newspapers involves felling trees for paper and printing leads to emission of considerable amount of carbon dioxide which can be damaging to the environment. Online media reaches people without any demographic or geographic boundaries, and people avail of it for free, theoretically speaking. So there is much temptation to visit online news sites and social networks that syndicate news updates. But are these reasons enough to convince lakhs of loyal patrons of print publications into making a switch?
CTRL + P SHALL PREVAIL..
Having stated all of this, there will ALWAYS be a digital divide. It could be for varied reasons — either lack of access to technology, financial setbacks, or just refusal to adapt — The world will ever be completely digital. Not in the near future, at least. This divide does not only apply to readers but to authors as well. As long as technology isnot 100% adopted by the entire population, print media will remain alive. We are actually fortunate to have computers and mobile devices
to read blogs but as hard as it is to grasp, there are still those with practically no option (or who prefer) reading printed books. Print is physical, and has potency. It would be foolish not to acknowledge that fact. It has been around for hundreds of years and well-established media houses have a massive reader base, even if it is domestic. These are people who prefer to hold their favorite magazine or newspaper while they sip on their coffee or tea every morning. There is nothing quite like opening up a new crisp book and
ruffling through the pages. More importantly, I don’t think there is an application, as of yet, for e-books or downloaded material that gives it that new book smell of paper or that musky odor from those that have been repeatedly read over many years. Coffee spills destroy electronic devices, but for books, it adds a flare of character. Printed publications don’t suffer from the technical headaches that plague portable electronic devices – they don’t have limited battery life, they are not susceptible to 3
CTRL + P SHALL PREVAIL..
reception black spots, and there is no need to wait for them to boot up before you can access their content.
product. And print becomes a great vehicle to promote that new, experiential online product.
What seems to be killing print magazines and newspapers is actually ushering in a new age and breed of print. The internet is forcing print to become better – more valuable, interesting, and less cluttered – to survive. Moreover, magazines can use print and tech’s defining qualities as complementary strengths. There’s a shift towards more high-quality, timeless, and original articles in print. Did the Gutenberg press kill calligraphy? Perhaps the advent of the web is not the burning abyss for print magazines, but a refiner’s fire that will make print magazines better than they are today.
Print can’t continue to exist if it’s primary function is to serve as some sort of civilized ritual. That’s awkwardly nostalgic in the face of superior distribution mediums, and problematically indulgent in the face of how much waste we all produce. If we make something, it ought to be worth keeping around. There’s a reason The New York Times increased their print run by 75 percent the day after the inauguration (and sold papers in advance at several times the newsstand price): people are going to keep it around. They’re going to frame it, or put it in a shoe box and show it to their grandchildren. It’s a useful artifact of an important moment. It’s the same reason we print our own magazine on heavy stock and try and frame our stories as elements of a time capsule for the two month period during which each issue is created.
With all these arguments about whether digital media will take over print, we are overlooking the fact that what’s really changing is the role of content itself. Communication in any for is an ever evolving thing. Online, it’s participation that becomes the product, with the content merely an ingredient of the real 4
CTRL + P SHALL PREVAIL..
“MAGAZINES IN A WAY WERE A PREINTERNET PRECURSOR OF THE INTERNET� If the print media continues to adapt to the changing media habits of people and corner its target readers well, it will survive. I agree with Mark Barret when he said that maybe there will come a day when the mass-market print publishing we know becomes reduced to a smaller niche aimed at collectibles or high-end artisanal products. Although, it is the print media which seems endangered, it is a fact that the success of any media tells upon another media. It is only a tug of war going among these, where the centre gets oscillated between the ends. Print, at times a competitor to digital platforms but more often complementary, is far from dead.
5