With all the buzz about books, magazines and newspapers going digital, people begin to wonder if printed materials will survive in the future. Sure it is becoming more affordable to own a iPad or a Nook but can you imagine what would happen in the future? Instead of a library would we be able to check out books through an app? Instead of newspaper subscribers getting the Sunday paper thrown at their doorstep, would we have an alert set on our iPad to let us know a new edition of the paper has been uploaded? Instead of reading about who is dating who, and who cheated on who in those junk magazines waiting in the grocery line, there will be pop-up ads on our e-reader?
I believe that digital media will have a huge impact in the near future, but print media will always be around. Schools will always have textbooks, because there will always be kids that can’t afford the digital device. There will also be a discrepancy between the many devices as well, like Mac vs. PC. Will you get an iPad, a Nook, or a Kindle? And IT and support would have to be handy for those little instances in class when something goes wrong. Although e-readers will be more popular, I think that printed materials will stick around for a while.
Maybe there is a way that digital readers can help promote their printed versions? or visa versa. I can remember when commercials started coming out in the 90’s with their websites advertised. Now you can’t find any company without website these days. The advertisement in a magazine or on tv promotes their website. Maybe print magazines can promote their online readers and the two can mesh together? The future holds a lot of interesting endeavors.