[Archived] The Daily Mail - Cancer in print,

[jim mk2]

Well, printed newspaper sales have fallen fairly significantly over the past decade so the argument that newspapers are in decline as a printed medium is perfectly reasonable. To say that the printed press is on its deathbed, however, is at this point wrong. There will always be a place for a printed paper, but I expect volumes to significantly shrink again over the next decade. By 2020 the news will most likely be almost totally digital.

I very much doubt it. The bicycle is thriving long after it was superseded by the infernal combustion engine; the canals have undergone a rebirth long after they were replaced by railways; the railways are carrying more people since the 1920s despite the best effort of Beeching and the advent of private motoring; radio is in good health despite the invention of television; and newspapers and the printed word will still be here in the digital age.

[DE.]

Transport is a totally separate subject with wildly different variables.

Radio still exists largely because it's been integrated into the modern digital platform, much like the printed paper is doing and will continue to do.

[jim mk2]

Doesn't matter, it's the same principle. Some new technology comes along and people predict the the death of the old technology - but it doesn't happen.

Newspapers will adapt and live alongside digital media like they have lived with radio and TV for decades, but to say "by 2020 the news will most likely be almost totally digital" is wrong.

[DE.]

At the moment digital news compliments published news, but with the rapid growth of tablets, the kindle and smartphones - along with the google eye and such devices being introduced - I see no reason to believe it won't be the other way around by the time the next decade begins.

[jim mk2]

Maybe, but it's more likely they will live alongside each other. I do not see one dominating the other.

[DE.]

It depends how well certain devices catch on imo. If the likes of the google eye really take off it will massively change things. 2020 admittedly might have been a little too early for digital dominance but if the digital sector continues to grow at such a rapid rate and people are able to access this information very very easily, then who knows? It's something that'll be interesting to watch.

I have a suspicion the google eye will fail to gain initial mainstream acceptance which could slow things down a fair bit.

[broadsword]

At the moment digital news compliments published news

"My, your print is looking particularly smudge-proof today."

[jim mk2]

People will always want to have a newspaper in their hands in the same way people will always want to read a book. I enjoy reading the paper not only for the good reads but also to see the design of the pages - something that is lost on digital. People always go overboard on new technologies.

[Paul]

I think there is a very different pleasure in reading a newspaper. Aside from gaining information there is the equally enjoyable relaxation. Newspapers display information in a much more readable form.

Just take the football results. On a Sunday The Observer devotes a full page to results, tables, teams, crowds etc. it's easy to scan and one can jump around from one division or another very easily and quickly make comparisons.

Compare that with the BBC website:

Home > Sport > Football > Results > Championship > scroll to match > repeat for tables etc. and you still only get the one division.

For me news reporting on the web is about information whereas a newspaper is information, relaxation and enjoyment.

Further to this a newspaper advertises it's articles. On the web I have to go looking for it. Last night I picked up and read a two week old Guardian feature on "epic adventures" in world travel. It wouldn't have even occurred to me if the newspaper hadn't been laying around - admittedly in the kindling and fire-lighting basket !!

[Al]

Kindling and fire lighting basket. That's pretty quaint in itself Paul, although I will admit to a little pang of jealousy at the thought of an open fire.

[Stuart]

Doesn't matter, it's the same principle. Some new technology comes along and people predict the the death of the old technology - but it doesn't happen.

Newspapers will adapt and live alongside digital media like they have lived with radio and TV for decades, but to say "by 2020 the news will most likely be almost totally digital" is wrong.

TV magazines have gone though haven't they.

I imagine the Radio Times circulation will have dwindled massively - if it even still exists - and once the older generation disappears.

My argument is not the medium. Newspapers may well vanish but the idea of news being free when they do is absurd. Without paid journalists - even if the delivery is via the internet or apps (or some other medium yet to be invented) - there won't be much credible "news" and we will be left with wildly varied "information" via twitter and the like. It therefore won't be able to be considered news in the way we accept it now but a cacophony of first-person "event coverage".

[DE.]

Most newspapers know that the digital age, for them, is well and truly underway. Eventually all (credible) news websites will be pay per view, as opposed to the current model where the vast majority of tabloid/broadsheet sites are still free to access.

[jim mk2]

TV magazines have gone though haven't they.

I imagine the Radio Times circulation will have dwindled massively - if it even still exists - and once the older generation disappears.

My argument is not the medium. Newspapers may well vanish but the idea of news being free when they do is absurd. Without paid journalists - even if the delivery is via the internet or apps (or some other medium yet to be invented) - there won't be much credible "news" and we will be left with wildly varied "information" via twitter and the like. It therefore won't be able to be considered news in the way we accept it now but a cacophony of first-person "event coverage".

Newspapers won't "vanish" for the reasons stated above. TV magazines are still going strong as supplements in the broadsheet weekend papers. Mark Twain might have been speaking of the printed press when he said reports of his death has been greatly exaggerated.

[Stuart]

Newspapers won't "vanish" for the reasons stated above. TV magazines are still going strong as supplements in the broadsheet weekend papers. Mark Twain might have been speaking of the printed press when he said reports of his death has been greatly exaggerated.

Personally I like the feel of a newspaper but it's more down to the cost that I don't completely switch to a tablet version. Much like books, the lack of supply chain costs should make digital versions of media dirt cheap but they hike up the prices to maximise profit.

The printed presses will go the way of the spinning jenny - consigned to virtual museums. They're already bringing iPads into schools - even in Blackburn.

[old darwen blue]

I subscribe to The Times online and it gets delivered to my iPad every day for me to read; I think that this may be the way forward. Online news is fine and up to the minute but in my opinion there is more considered and informative background to read be it in paper form or by online apps such as The Times.

[jim mk2]

I have used a Kindle but I didn't like it and prefer to have a newspaper in my hands.

Thank you for your "joke comic" about energy savings. I save energy by trying to travel when I can by train and bicycle.

We are in the 21st century and car usage is falling.

Next.

[Audax]

Daily Mail has been dissed here, think at least for balance, M15's head has said the Snowden types of leaks about security put the public at risk. For the record, MI5 Director General Andrew Parker did not mention Snowden by name. Of course, it's the Guardian that relayed this story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24454596

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/08/us-usa-security-britain-idUSBRE99711A20131008

I'm mixed on this, it does seem too many intrusions on privacy have been taken. So security itself needs to be on a short leash.

[DE.]

Daily Mail has been dissed here, think at least for balance, M15's head has said the Snowden types of leaks about security put the public at risk. For the record, MI5 Director General Andrew Parker did not mention Snowden by name. Of course, it's the Guardian that relayed this story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24454596

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/08/us-usa-security-britain-idUSBRE99711A20131008

I'm mixed on this, it does seem too many intrusions on privacy have been taken. So security itself needs to be on a short leash.

Unfortunately the intelligence services have gone too far in their quest to cast surveillance on everything and everyone.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Neither Snowden nor the Guardian have anything to apologise for. The only ones who should be taken to task are the Governments who allowed such extreme measures in the first place.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Daily Mail has been dissed here, think at least for balance, M15's head has said the Snowden types of leaks about security put the public at risk. For the record, MI5 Director General Andrew Parker did not mention Snowden by name. Of course, it's the Guardian that relayed this story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24454596

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/08/us-usa-security-britain-idUSBRE99711A20131008

I'm mixed on this, it does seem too many intrusions on privacy have been taken. So security itself needs to be on a short leash.

To quote Mandy Rice Davies - ' They would say that wouldn't they ' .

[perthblue02]

Have you ever used a Kindle? You wouldn't believe how much it feels like you're NOT using a digital device yet you are saving yourself money in the long term and saving a whole load of energy (printing press and delivery trucks) and trees.

Not very useful if you run out of toilet roll though