Newsweek to end print editions

[JDgreen227]

Saw that story in today's news, heard a rumor last month but the story says Newsweek will go all-digital early next year after a run of 80 years for the print edition. As for me, I have no interest in all for digital magazines for two reasons:

We have painfully slow DSL, on the fringe of dial up service.

The ads for digital magazines are MUCH more intrusive than they are on the print magazines, and the print magazines have been steadily increasing the ad content and reducing the editorial content for at least 10 years now.

At one time I subscribed to as many as 12-15 print magazines at a time, home improvement type like "This Old House" and car magazines such as "Car and Driver" and one of my favorites, Consumer Reports, which I had been a 20 year print subscriber to notified me I would have to PAY for digital access even with a paid subscription to the print edition...I have let every magazine subscription I had expire except for Hemmings publications and Time magazine, and they both expire later this year...not going to renew any of them.

Now, if TBN offered a print edition....I would cheerfully sign up, if only to see my ranting printed once in a while !! :laughing:

 

[jmurray01]

Oh Lord, has it really came to that?

I feel your pain Bill, I don't know what I'd do if the two local papers here stopped being printed and became digital only.

Companies these days, what can I say, they are all fueled by profits, not keeping loyal customers happy.

Well they can all GO TO H***!

There, that's that out of my system :laughing:

 

[MoKelly]

I like digital magazines/newspapers. In St. Louis, the local paper is free online, yet it costs to get the printed copy. So, its a no brainer at least for me.

MoKelly

 

[jmurray01]

But can you flick through the pages on a digital paper? Smell the fresh ink? Use it to light the fire when you're done with it?

Didn't think so.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Companies these days, what can I say, they are all fueled by profits, not keeping loyal customers happy.

It doesn't matter how many loyal customers you have if you can't make enough money to keep the presses running. Fewer and fewer people are buying print, and more and more people are reading online. The magazine and newspaper industry is being gutted. I would be surprised if Newsweek's decision was motivated by profit, versus not having to close the doors.

 

[JDgreen227]

I like digital magazines/newspapers. In St. Louis, the local paper is free online, yet it costs to get the printed copy. So, its a no brainer at least for me.

MoKelly

Mo, here one has to pay for the digital edition...and I really enjoy folding up the papers for the print copy of the local news to wipe my....OOPS....I meant swat a fly !!!

 

[joshuabardwell]

I'll tell you some things I like about digital distribution.

1. You can search for key words or phrases within the content. An index and microfiche doesn't hold a candle to that.

2. You can easily share content with friends, and then have conversations about the content. If the friends aren't all available right that moment, you can have asynchronous conversations, where everybody leaves comments as they are available.

3. With online papers that have a comments section, you can discuss the article with strangers, in a way that you never could before digital. This provides access to the point of view of people who may not agree with you, which I find valuable.

4. Digital distribution means that everyone has an email address. You can almost always write a letter directly to the author of an article, and in many cases, they will respond. That was much less likely with print, where you would address the editor.

5. No ink on fingers after reading the paper.

6. VASTLY increased access to niche content. I read web-comics, for example, that would never in a million years get printed in the Sunday funnies. Without digital distribution, they would just be sketches in somebody's notebook.

 

[jmurray01]

Mo, here one has to pay for the digital edition...and I really enjoy folding up the papers for the print copy of the local news to wipe my....OOPS....I meant swat a fly !!!

'Course you did Bill, I believe you. Thousands wouldn't.

 

[JDgreen227]

I'll tell you some things I like about digital distribution.

1. You can search for key words or phrases within the content. An index and microfiche doesn't hold a candle to that.

2. You can easily share content with friends, and then have conversations about the content. If the friends aren't all available right that moment, you can have asynchronous conversations, where everybody leaves comments as they are available.

3. With online papers that have a comments section, you can discuss the article with strangers, in a way that you never could before digital. This provides access to the point of view of people who may not agree with you, which I find valuable.

4. Digital distribution means that everyone has an email address. You can almost always write a letter directly to the author of an article, and in many cases, they will respond. That was much less likely with print, where you would address the editor.

5. No ink on fingers after reading the paper.

6. VASTLY increased access to niche content. I read web-comics, for example, that would never in a million years get printed in the Sunday funnies. Without digital distribution, they would just be sketches in somebody's notebook.

Josh...DISAGREE with #4...our local paper rarely provides am email address for the vast majority of writers...all you can see is "So and So, Associated Press" and many of the AP articles were published elsewhere a WEEK AGO....!!!

 

[jmurray01]

Ink on fingers?

I've never had that in my life.