"Dead Tree Media" Has Staying Power

Why magazines should rule -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Much has been said lately about the upcoming demise of the “dead tree media” -- magazines and newspapers. I remember circa 1995 when we were still bandying terms like Prodigy, Lynx, AOL and Mosaic. The Hotwired-reading prophets of the time predicted that magazines would be over and done with by 1996. They were wrong about that to be sure, but in 2010 I’d be remiss not to mention that lots of “dead trees” have really died. I need only look at my local Dallas Morning News which has had to nearly double its subscription rate to $33/year. Yes, some periodicals have ended their periodicity -- but I have hope that some survivors will persist.

Here is why. When I pick up a new copy of GQ or Rollins Stone magazine, I get more than the article content. I get beautiful, printed color lithography -- a tactile experience of paper and a veritable time capsule of ads and articles that speak to the current day. I get a thematically assembled-and-bound album of ideas and art that I might not think to put together myself -- suitable for a keepsake if I so desire. Imagine printing this week’s Newsweek content on your local inkjet and assembling it in any way as portable or pleasing as a printed magazine. OK, I hear the reader saying, “I don’t need assembled keepsakes, all I need is two articles”. You force me to bring up the “positive negatives” of dead tree media:

THE BUS -- If somebody mugs me at the bus stop, all they get is Newsweek. They don’t get an $800 Dell Inspiron with all my financial documents, software and photo memories.

THE BUTTER FINGERS -- If I accidentally throw my Men’s Health into the fireplace, all I’ve lost is $4.50 -- maybe not even that much if I already read it. If I drop my HP Pavilion, I must hope it’s still under warranty. ** See above addendum about photo memories.

THE BEACH -- If I take my Mini notebook to the beach, I risk gunking it up with sand, salt and suntan oil. I might get smears on a magazine but somehow it’s not as traumatic. Magazines were plainly made for the beach

THE BURGER KING -- Burger King will have generous stacks of Green Sheet, Dallas Observer and other freebies at the store entrance. These periodicals are free for the taking and paid for by local advertisers. I have yet to see the store that provides a stack of PC’s for customers who want impromptu browsing material.

THE BATTERY -- Utne Reader has an instant boot and shutdown time. I can read it for endless hours and no battery has been depleted. Don’t need to search for wifi or electrical outlets.

THE BIG GRAPHICS -- Some people will say that Smart phones are so small and simple that they eliminate some of the concerns of dropping or smearing with suntan oil. To that I have to say, this is where technology is limited by human physiology. A hand-held device should not be much smaller than a deck of playing cards -- lest it get easily lost or baffle it’s user with tiny controls. No less is true of a portable reader (be it an iPhone, a netbook or a SONY ebook reader). I have an iPhone and strain to read it even with reading glasses. Vogue on the other hand is bigger-than-life and splashy. A middle-aged person can read much of it without glasses.

Magazines give you fold-outs and cologne samples. When will computers offer fragrances? Magazines are light-weight and made for abuse. You can roll them up and cram them into tiny places (OK, mind out of the gutter). blogSpotter (I, the author) is admittedly old and out of the mainstream. But I truly think that our dead tree experience is something that has staying power. Maybe the next decade will prove me wrong. I wonder if there are any magazines that cover this issue?


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