Even though new media mouthpieces have been shouting for some time about the end of print newspapers, it still comes as quite a shock when perhaps the biggest name in print newspapers admits they are in huge trouble.
While being interviewed a year ago, the editor of the New York Times stated that there would be no print version within 10 years. At the time people laughed and branded the comments maverick, and purposely attention getting.
Nobody guessed that the New York Times might not survive for another 10 years.
While it’s terrible to see such well known institutions fall, it’s also tremendously exciting to be present during times of enormous change. As laughable as it may seem right now, our grandchildren will not understand the concept of printed newspapers. Devices such as the Kindle and Sony eReader are just the start.
The future is exciting, complex, and ultimately unknowable. People often write about information overload - I don’t think that quantity of information is necessarily the problem - the problem is the intelligent delivery, selection and presentation of it.
The next few years will see the development of tools and techniques to filter, massage and present the growing torrent of information. Really Simple Syndication might be seen as Leonardo’s sketches. At some point over the next few years somebody will reinvent the printing press, and the book. The appearance of the hideous Kindle on Oprah recently was an early indicator.
We are privilaged to live in such exciting times.