Good point about some people having disatisfaction with newspapers in general. I know there are certain people who are downright GLAD that the circulation is falling.

Chris,

Whoa, so apparently I’m not the only one. Hope there are more people like us.

Garey, I read a lot of comics online, too, mainly because a lot of my favorites are not in my paper. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like to sit down and read the entire comics page each day (on Sundays especially).

Dawn, what you describe is incredible! That is amazing that such a development might come so soon. Thanks for the information.

Yes and yes. It would be entirely possible to modernize the old newspaper vending machines we still have on many street corners. You sign up for a subscription and tell the program the cartoons and story tags you want. Then when you pass one of these machines, you put in your code, it electronically mashes up a paper for you and then prints it off from a long roll of paper, cutting and collating the pages. Then all you have to do is fold it and away you go.

It would be profitable because the ads that would print along with it would be a lot more targeted.

The technology is available. It’s the infrastructure and will that doesn’t yet exist.

In a few more years, we can even by-pass the need for the paper machines. “Electronic paper” already offers the visual look of paper in terms of contrast, clarity and brightness. Philips, Epson and other companies are working on future versions that will integrate plastics to allow something that not only has the look of paper, but is also much closer to its form – thin, light, flexible, rollable.

So you can carry a newspaper rolled up in your briefcase and it will be constantly updated in real time.

I must admit, as far as comics are concerned (as I have stated in other posts), I read most of them online. But every Sunday I do like to sit down with the paper. What Scott fails to touch on is the fact that reading the newspaper is for many people steeped in ritual.

While the business isn’t as great as, say, 20 years ago, they’re still marketable. And comics will stick around, although they (the editors and the cartoonists) might want to prepare for some drastic changes.

I’m probably the youngest commentor in this site (just entering college) and even I read newspapers.

…that and coupon clippers. I deal with cheapskates and penny pinchers all day at my store, and not everyone has or wants a computer, much less an iClone.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Dilbert come to an end in the afformentioned time frame, though. I can’t stand that strip…

Come to think of it, I still subscribe to certain trade magazines, even though I can get most of the same information online also.

I personally can’t imagine reading the news entirely off of a tiny little screen.

I’m sure many people will surf the ‘net on the go, but it must be really annoying to read long articles on those tiny screens. I don’t have a problem reading small lettering on those screens for a brief text message or something, but that’s why people use abbreviations in their text messages — to save space so the message can be read quickly. A long, newspaper-length article must be exceedingly irritating to have to scroll through. Incidentally, there was a “Zits” cartoon a few years ago where Jeremy is dreading reading Moby Dick for school and decides to download the electronic version to one of his portable devices. He then begins to read: “Call me Ish–” (at which point he has to scroll over) “–mael.” That, obviously is exaggerated, but still, it must be a similar problem for reading the news on your cell phone.

And comics on cell phones? Those are ridiculous — not the strips, but the way you have to read them. I’d rather have the “Comics” part of “GoComics” than the “Go.”

Wes, an increase in the size of, say, an iPhone, would make it easier to browse and read the news online, but, as you probably know, the technology companies are always all about smaller, smaller, smaller.

Dawn, are customized personal newspapers really possible today? And would they be profitable for the companies that would make them?

Josh, I, too, would rather read the newspaper than on my cell phone. And I’m a teenager.

Alex, I don’t think that the newspaper will die out, at least not for a long time, largely because you can’t beat having all the news, features, and local topics of the last day in front of you in a big, broadsheet newspaper. Online, you’d have to search around for that stuff, not that it’s a big deal, but it just isn’t as good. Also, you can get the facts of the latest events online, but if you want the whole story written with journalistic quality, you have to go to the newspaper.

Neil, you never know!

So, if you ask me, the newspaper isn’t going anywhere. Many people will opt to read the news and comics on their cell phones, but that won’t stop the circulation of newspapers altogether, because while circulation may be declining, keep in mind that most households in the US still get (and presumably read) at least one paper every day!

Mobile devices won’t kill the newspapers, but they do create new evolutionary pressures. I spend a couple of hours on the internet every day, but I would gladly subscribe to a newspaper with WELL-EDITED CONTENT (and that includes comics pages decided on by editors with an appreciation of the cartooning art and not by a poll of their readers). And you can’t beat the tactility of printed page over screen.