Social Media

Is There Hope For Printed Mags?



There's nothing wrong with the idea, however, I don't see how this approach can do anything for the print medium, which is, admittedly, dying out. First of all, you can wait a couple of days and write "deep" analysis on the net, too. Ars Technica, for example, does this, although some claim that their analysis is quite often too similar to what others have written before. But, being late and smart is a viable tactic; simply put, if you know certain rules of the game, you can afford to ride the second attention wave when the initial news frenzy subsides.

The real problem with print as a medium, when compared to the internet, is not (only) that it's slower. The problem is that it's not linked to anything. If you have to choose between reading, for example, a motherboard review in a printed mag and on a website, very soon you'll discover that the printed review lacks so much context that any comparison is unfair. Online, you can check out what the folks on the offical forums say. You can read the comments. You can click on the links provided within the article. You can check out the gallery of images - which often has so many images that it would be impossible to put them all into a printed mag - and if all that's not enough, you can always google for more.

The printed magazine, content-wise, is just like a web page taken offline: nothing more, nothing less. Is there any hope for the print, then?

Yes. First, you have the exclusivity factor. A magazine is, simply put, cool to have; just like it's cool to have a neat wrist watch although no one really needs it anymore. Secondly, you have the noise factor, which means that sometimes, less is more. Not having all that superfluous info around the article can help you focus. And you can, of course, afford to put in extra effort in your analysis because you're not pressed for time.

However, it's crucial to understand - and this is what Dispatches, in my opinion, does wrong - that the magazine should always try to be as connected to the net as it can. Therefore, its content should be published and enriched on the internet; not hidden away behind a subscription, because I sincerely doubt you can still base your business model on offering less and then charging for it. They're welcome to try, though.

Load Comments

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot