Vobogeck

A Paperless News World: Kinsley Nails It Again

Just out on Reuters: "Associated Press unveiled rate cuts on Monday to help member newspapers reeling from declining advertising revenue and said it would sue websites that use its members' articles without permission."

Jarvis assumes a static status quo, which is nonsense. The AP response is typical of what will happen, as the news providers stop giving their stories away free to Google etc. Although they may be slow to change, the newspapers will adapt and thrive. They will compensate for reduced advertising with a higher subscription, for those readers willing to pay for in-depth news. If they don't we will be left with the worthless drivel that passes for journalism on sites like Seeking Bears.

I am curious Jeff: how much does Seeking Bears pay you for posting on its web site? Do you get a cut of its advertising revenue? If not, how much longer will you continue to give away your time for free?

Microsoft's Ballmer Kills Print

As an aside comment, I remember all the talk about the "paperless" office back in 1984. Are they paperless today, nearly a quarter century later? I thought not.

Microsoft's Ballmer Kills Print

Steve Ballmer is self-serving in saying what he does, but Jeff Jarvis and the other media hacks are simply gullible in re-iterating the received wisdom that newspapers and magazines will simply disappear in X years. I would pay three times the current cost of a newspaper so that I can carry on reading it in bed on a Saturday morning. I am sorry, but perching a laptop in bed with the battery pack scorching my abdomen just does not cut it. There must be millions of people like me. Maybe newspapers and magazines will become niche products, but to say they will disappear is utter bunk. Now if only we could make computers, cellphones and PDAs disappear and go back to the way we were in less stressful times...