Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Brick-and-motor retail. Stores have been shutting down for over 10 years now, and the options for delivery and pickup and self-checkout keep growing. It's going to converge one day and make store browsing pointless/unappealing.
I'm really hoping almost all print media is obsolete within roughly another 10 years . Back in 1999 I for some reason I remember having a conversation about electronic books with a woman who is a book lover . She got very emotional and adamant that books would never go away . Understandable, since as a medium to hold and transfer knowledge they've been around in common use since what the Gutenberg press many hundreds of years ago ? However, like so many other things they are no longer the most efficient way to store information . Newspapers and other volatile information pretty obviously no longer belongs on the pulp/printed word , which is why so many of them are going bankrupt
I am dictating this post via voice on an Android device . It is a Sony tablet state-of-the-art in the year 2013 . Waterproof , thin and light . Holds a charge for a couple of days under heavy use . Problem is it was pretty expensive brand-new but it's actually holding up very well for a four-year-old device and I expect to get another year or so from it . Point being devices like the Sony tablet should not be five or $600 new or whatever I paid more like $49.95 over at the Walmart . When everybody can afford gadgets like this, print media will almost certainly completely disappear. Permanently .
Brick-and-motor retail. Stores have been shutting down for over 10 years now, and the options for delivery and pickup and self-checkout keep growing. It's going to converge one day and make store browsing pointless/unappealing.
I hope that never happens. Its great to be able to order online and have it delivered to your doorstep, but there is something appealing about going to a store to check things out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondebaerde
I'm really hoping almost all print media is obsolete within roughly another 10 years . Back in 1999 I for some reason I remember having a conversation about electronic books with a woman who is a book lover . She got very emotional and adamant that books would never go away . Understandable, since as a medium to hold and transfer knowledge they've been around in common use since what the Gutenberg press many hundreds of years ago ? However, like so many other things they are no longer the most efficient way to store information . Newspapers and other volatile information pretty obviously no longer belongs on the pulp/printed word , which is why so many of them are going bankrupt
I am dictating this post via voice on an Android device . It is a Sony tablet state-of-the-art in the year 2013 . Waterproof , thin and light . Holds a charge for a couple of days under heavy use . Problem is it was pretty expensive brand-new but it's actually holding up very well for a four-year-old device and I expect to get another year or so from it . Point being devices like the Sony tablet should not be five or $600 new or whatever I paid more like $49.95 over at the Walmart . When everybody can afford gadgets like this, print media will almost certainly completely disappear. Permanently .
That would not be a good development. I alternate between digital and physical but when it comes to novels I prefer holding an actual copy of the book. There are also lots of people who still do not have access to technology, therefore they would be limited by digital media. Seeing bookstores packed with people gives me hope.
Take a streaming service like Netflix. It provides a wide array of content and does so at a fixed monthly rate which is great. Its cheaper than past video rental stores since you don't pay for each movie, but the content is not nearly as expansive. Video rental stores would have isles worth of material and would not be tied to any studio. Now with streaming services if i want to watch Game of Thrones I need HBO Go, for American Gods I need Amazon Prime...
On one hand we simplified the process on another we lost the flexibility of a chain stocking content from different studios. Then there's the issue of being always connected and some places only offering internet packages with data caps.
Its good to see tech move forward and having more options is always beneficial, but it should not eliminate the past.
I figure that if any of the print media survives, it will be books.
Periodicals? Old style newspapers are a dying industry, they will be extinct within twenty years. I understand that the future of magazines appears dubious as well.
That would not be a good development. I alternate between digital and physical but when it comes to novels I prefer holding an actual copy of the book. There are also lots of people who still do not have access to technology, therefore they would be limited by digital media. Seeing bookstores packed with people gives me hope.
Its good to see tech move forward and having more options is always beneficial, but it should not eliminate the past.
There will always be those who prefer the tactile enjoyment of printed media, for sure. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't spent hours in stacks myself, in years past. Now, though, I spend those hours on a light and thin Sony tablet, see previous.
However, being more of a pragmatist than sentimental, I've not walked into a bookstore in years anymore other than the attached coffee shops inevitable here in Seattle. It's an anachronism, between (massive online retailer of books and more) based also in Seattle, and a couple "good reads" -type sites for reviews, lists, and etc.
Some people will long for that, yes, and keep it alive in smaller independent niche stores. It will never die out (be completely "eliminated", not for hundreds of years if-ever, as the printed becomes the venue of artists for the most part. But for information dissemination? Nah, it's a goner.
Father time has a way of making once-dazzling technological breakthroughs appear primitive and obsolete. Within recent decades many seemingly essential technologies have become practically obsolete. Typewriters, floppy disks, Vinyl (although it has experienced a cult revival as of late), dial-up internet, etc.
Inevitably other technologies will folow suit in the near future, but which technologies will they be? To get the ball rolling, I believe that CDs, DVDs, single-purpose remote controls, and car mirrors will effectively become obsolete within the next decade. I also believe that print media may struggle to survive the next decade given the increasing pressure to shift to an exclusively online format.
What do you guys think?
People are always around to mess things up.
For example, if net neutrality goes away, people might move away from streaming and get back into CD and DVDs. We might say the same thing about print media but there are even more reasons to that, two of them being censorship and memory.
To the former, once it is down in ink and paper, it is very difficult to change the story. Can we say the same about it being electronic? To the latter, well, as Giles said .....
Jenny Calendar: Honestly, what is it about them that bothers you so much? Giles: The smell. Jenny Calendar: Computers don't smell, Rupert. Giles: I know. Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a... it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It's-it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible. It should be, um, smelly.
(from imdb, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "I, Robot...You Jane".
Not sure why rear view mirrors should go away or have they invented ways to back trailers without them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondebaerde
There will always be those who prefer the tactile enjoyment of printed media, for sure. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't spent hours in stacks myself, in years past. Now, though, I spend those hours on a light and thin Sony tablet, see previous.
However, being more of a pragmatist than sentimental, I've not walked into a bookstore in years anymore other than the attached coffee shops inevitable here in Seattle. It's an anachronism, between (massive online retailer of books and more) based also in Seattle, and a couple "good reads" -type sites for reviews, lists, and etc.
Some people will long for that, yes, and keep it alive in smaller independent niche stores. It will never die out (be completely "eliminated", not for hundreds of years if-ever, as the printed becomes the venue of artists for the most part. But for information dissemination? Nah, it's a goner.
As I said, people are always around to mess it up, such as when a certain Chief Executive tries to retell the story in his version.
There will always be those who prefer the tactile enjoyment of printed media, for sure. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't spent hours in stacks myself, in years past. Now, though, I spend those hours on a light and thin Sony tablet, see previous.
However, being more of a pragmatist than sentimental, I've not walked into a bookstore in years anymore other than the attached coffee shops inevitable here in Seattle. It's an anachronism, between (massive online retailer of books and more) based also in Seattle, and a couple "good reads" -type sites for reviews, lists, and etc.
Some people will long for that, yes, and keep it alive in smaller independent niche stores. It will never die out (be completely "eliminated", not for hundreds of years if-ever, as the printed becomes the venue of artists for the most part. But for information dissemination? Nah, it's a goner.
For the most part, you are probably right, but there is something to be said for not becoming too dependent on needing a power source and an internet connection for everything. If people are that dependent, then if the power goes out or the computer system is down for any length of time, things come to a complete standstill. It's nice to have something for backup if needed or if you are separated from your electronics for an extended period of time.
For the most part, you are probably right, but there is something to be said for not becoming too dependent on needing a power source and an internet connection for everything. If people are that dependent, then if the power goes out or the computer system is down for any length of time, things come to a complete standstill. It's nice to have something for backup if needed or if you are separated from your electronics for an extended period of time.
Some of the technical books I keep around are Reader's Digest and Popular Mechanics DIY household repairs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
almost no one ever visits without calling first
