Technology continues to take a toll on traditional media and publishing, as evidenced by the recent bankruptcy filing by Borders. Gone are the days of film cameras and phone books. Paper maps, newspapers and books seem to be barely hanging on. One might consider adding them to the endangered species list.
I don’t know about you, but as a kid unfolding the map of the Bronx Zoo and then directing my family as to where we should walk made me feel so important. And today I enjoy a Sunday morning at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, newspaper in hand. Maybe I don’t like the black ink on my fingertips, but I sure loved using Silly Putty on the comics pages growing up. Call me a traditionalist, but I can’t imagine a day when I can’t hold a real book in my hands and smell the fresh paper as I turn the flat, crisp pages. Don’t get me wrong, there certainly is some technology that I can’t imagine living without. After all, I couldn’t imagine life without the convenience of being able to look up just about anything on the Internet 24/7. But, I’m also not ready to give up some of the basics that have created some every day traditions.
I think we may need a marketing effort to promote the benefits of some every day “staples” in our lives in order to give them a fighting chance. What about you? Are you so in love with your Kindle that you wouldn’t mind if you never held a copy of a New York Times best-seller in your hands again? Will reading the latest news on the laptop on a Sunday feel the same? Tell us what you think.