Okay, so my picture has nothing to do with my post. Well, that's not entirely true. I was originally going to post about Papel Picado which is the mexican art of papercutting. These are panels of banners cut out of tissue paper. They are delicate, intricate and beautiful. They are used in almost all mexican celebrations. They are the inspiration for a custom invitation design that I am working on that I can't wait to share with you. But alas, you will have to wait.
Now, onto magazines. There is a lot of blog talk about the closing of Domino. When I saw the news I thought "no big surprise here" and that's not because I don't like that magazine, it's because I know the climate and I don't think magazines and news papers will be around for too much longer. Now I know that I'm not the author of this thought, but I though it beared mentioning today. I like to look to the future and I think that we need to understand what the next itteration of magazines will be. I happen to think that blogs may be it. Now I know that there is an issue of money, that people that put together magazines deserve to be paid for their work and I think that is a detail that will be figured out. But I don't hold any special place in my heart for the actual form of a magazine. The paper isn't anything special and there is no reason, in my humble opinion that we shouldn't move it to the digital format. The waste of printing and disposing of all those magazines is upsetting to me and a large reason that I only get a few and would be more than happy to view them online and pay the same price. It just seems to me that this opens up a bigger advertising opportunity for the magazines. The ads can rotate on the page and when you read about a great new product, you would be able to click right to where it is sold. I know that there are a lot of other issues that I am not privy to, but I choose to think of these changes in society as a chance to improve. Any one else?
I agree that it is a waste of paper, but there is something really nice about the tactile quality of a magazine. I also relate reading a magazine to relax time for me...it's a little hard to relax sitting in front of a computer.
ReplyDeletei guess my feelings about printed media is different. for style, design, artsy type magazines that cost a lot for only a few issues, i tend to think of those more as "books" than magazines. those are the keepers, right next to my harry potter and joy luck club.
ReplyDeletebut for the trashy stuff or the fashion mags that mostly read like ads anyway, digital form totally makes sense. so i'm sort of in favor and sort of not depending on the quality of the mag and the genre.
we already spend a lot of time on the computer and it gives me a headache reading the screen so much. why spend more time on it?
and for the same reason quality paper matters to you, i feel the same way about holding a book or a magazine in my hand. i love flipping the pages, dog-earing it, writing all over it. it gives me such a comfort to have something tactile in my hand. books are already becoming digitized. in an increasinly digital world, i like to hold onto the comforts of a bound book, a printed QUALITY magazine, and a handwritten note. :)
but i do see your point about the ease of using the internet/blog. you have some good ideas for how we could enhance the experience. and i like the idea of being able to easily find the products/items online by having a link to it.
still... i'm nervous about not having something tangible in front of me. call me old fashioned. :D
...have to agree with you here...have always been a big mag fan myself but more and more using the internet instead...
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